Relationship of Patient Characteristics and Nutritional Status to Blood Pressure Among Hypertensive Patients at Kitui Level 5 Hospital.

Abstract

Hypertension (HTN) is a cardiovascular disorder that significantly contributes to global morbidity and mortality, increasing risks for stroke, heart disease and kidney dysfunction. Poor blood pressure worsens the condition (hypertension) leading to serious medical complications that are costly to treat and manage. Nutritional status, demographic and socioeconomic factors critically influence blood pressure (BP) control, yet their interrelationship remains understudied, especially in resourcelimited settings. This demands for adequate measures to probe the link between blood pressure control with patient characteristics and nutritional status. An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted among one hundred and thirty-six hypertensive adults (?18 years) attending care at Kitui Level 5 Hospital, Kenya. Data on demographic and socioeconomic characteristics including age, gender, marital status, education level, occupation and monthly income, were collected using structured questionnaires while nutritional status was assessed through anthropometric measures including body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist to height ratio (WHtR), waist hip ratio (WHR), body fat (BF) and visceral fat (VF). Blood pressure was recorded, and poor BP control was defined as ?140/90mmHg. The overall mean age of patients was 60.7 years, with 55.1% exhibiting poor BP control (mean age: 62.8 years). Poor BP control was higher among women (67.7%) compared to men (33.3%). Age emerged as a significant predictor of poor BP control (OR=1.72; 95% CI: 1.00-2.92, P=0.046). Strong positive correlations were observed between BP and anthropometric indices, notably BMI (r=0.458, p