Objective: To investigate the prevalence rate of hypertension among 30 to 70 years old Tibetan citizens in Lhasa municipality.
Methods: A total of 371 Tibetan men and women aged between 30 to 70 years old were included in this cross-sectional epidemiological study with simple random sampling from October to November 2006. All participants were requested to fill in a Standard questionnaire, blood pressure was measured, body mass index and waist and hip circumference ratio were calculated.
Results: The overall prevalence rate of hypertension was 40.2% (36.6% in men vs. 40.9% in women, P = 0.921). Prevalence rate of hypertension increased with age (r = 0.995, P < 0.001). The age-standardized prevalence of hypertension was 37.6% (38.0% in men and 37.5% in women). Awareness rate of hypertension was 70.9%, treatment rate of hypertension was 38.1%, and control rate of hypertension was 2.4%.
Conclusion: There was a high prevalence rate and poor control rate of hypertension among 30 to 70 years old citizens of Lhasa. Intensive medical care aimed to better control of blood pressure should be applied to this population.