Prevalence and correlates of hypertension among women of reproductive age in Tanzania: a nationwide cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION

Hypertension is a major public health problem and important area of research due to its high prevalence and being major risk factor for developing cardiovascular diseases.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the prevalence and correlates of hypertension among women of reproductive age (15-49 years) in Tanzania.

METHODS

This study used secondary data of a total of 7610 weighted women of reproductive age (15-49 years) drawn from the 2022 Demographic and Health Survey-Malaria Indicator Survey. The application of a standardised weight helped to account for complex sampling design. A dependent variable was a binary variable hypertension status and independent variables were the sociodemographic characteristics of a woman. The descriptive and inferential statistics were performed using Stata V.18 software to determine the distribution of participants among variable categories and determine the association between dependent and independent variables. A cut point of p value <0.05 determines the significant factor.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence of hypertension among women of reproductive age in Tanzania was 11.2%. After controlling for other correlates, the correlates of hypertension aged 35-49 years had higher odds of developing hypertension (adjusted OR (aOR) 4.12, 95% CI 2.86 to 5.94) compared with women aged 15-24 years. Women residing in urban areas had higher odds (aOR 2.40, 95% CI 1.09 to 5.27) of developing hypertension than women residing in rural areas. Moreover, the odds of being hypertensive were higher (aOR 1.58, 95% CI 1.17 to 2.15) for women in the rich quintile compared with their counterparts in middle and poor quintiles. Women who were separated had higher odds of having hypertension (aOR 1.56, 95% CI 1.03 to 2.36) than those who are married. Moreover, women who are obese or overweight (aOR 2.07, 95% CI 1.70 to 2.51), women who were using alcohol (aOR 1.50, 95% CI 1.11 to 2.03) and women who were smoking (aOR 2.30, 95% CI 1.40 to 6.60) had higher odds of developing hypertension.

CONCLUSION

The overall prevalence of hypertension among Tanzanian women of reproductive age in Tanzania was 11.2%. The correlates of hypertension among women include older age, urban residency, being separated, coming from the richest households, drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco. The government and other health stakeholders should focus on designing health programmes to deal with modifiable correlates like reducing alcohol use and smoking of tobacco specifically among women as well as in the general population.