International Journal of General Medicine (Feb 2023)

Prevalence of Hypertension and Its Association with Cardiovascular Risk Factors in College Students in Hunan, China

  • Li M,
  • Cui X,
  • Meng Y,
  • Cheng M,
  • He J,
  • Yuan W,
  • Ni J,
  • Liu J

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 16
pp. 411 – 423

Abstract

Read online

Mingpeng Li,1,2,* Xiaorui Cui,3,* Yanbin Meng,4 Mengli Cheng,4 Jinsong He,3 Wei Yuan,3 Jing Ni,5 Jianping Liu6 1Department of Cardiovascular, Chenzhou No. 1 People’s Hospital, Chenzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiangnan University, Chenzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of Xiangnan University, Chenzhou, People’s Republic of China; 4Xiangnan University, Chenzhou, People’s Republic of China; 5Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, People’s Republic of China; 6Institute of Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Diseases, Xiangnan University, Chenzhou, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Jianping Liu, No. 25 Renmin West Road, Chenzhou, 423000, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: Although the prevalence of hypertension has been well studied in middle age and elderly populations, few studies have systematically investigated the prevalence of hypertension and its association with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risk factors in young populations.Objective: This study examined the prevalence of hypertension in college students and its correlation with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risk factors, such as neck circumference and body mass index (BMI).Methods: This population-based study recruited a total of 1719 students (723 were junior, 502 were sophomore, and 494 were freshman), including 996 males (average age: 20.8 years) and 723 females (average age: 20.4 years). Hypertension was defined by the 2018 revised edition of the Chinese Guidelines for Prevention and Treatment of Hypertension. Blood and pulse pressure were measured using standard protocols. Circulating levels of lipids, glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin (GHb), leptin, and adiponectin were determined using standard methods. The Chi-squared (χ2) test was used for comparison of significant differences between groups. Linear and logistic regression analyses were used to explore risk factors that significantly influence hypertension.Findings: The prevalence of hypertension was 10.59% in the total cohort, and sophomores had a higher prevalence of hypertension than freshmen and juniors (χ2 = 19.372; P < 0.001). In addition, male students had a significantly higher prevalence of hypertension (10.24%) and abnormal pulse pressure (8.13%) than female students (1.4% and 0.83%) (χ2 = 327.424, P < 0.001 for high SBP and χ2 = 60.49, P < 0.001 for high DBP, respectively). Correlation analysis revealed that hypertension was significantly correlated with neck circumference and BMI (r = 0.509, P < 0.001; r = 0.474, P < 0.001), but not significantly correlated with the other parameters examined.Conclusion: The prevalence of hypertension in college students is closely correlated with two obesity indicators, neck circumference and BMI.Keywords: cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events, college students, correlation, hypertension, risk factors

Keywords