Prevalence of prehypertension and its relationship to risk factors for cardiovascular disease in Jamaica: Analysis from a cross-sectional survey

Table 1 Means and standard error for selected characteristics of participants in the Jamaica Lifestyle Survey 2000–2001 within and across blood pressure categories.

		Total N = 1972	Normotensive* N = 875	Prehypertensive N = 555	Hypertensive N = 542	p-value for association**
Characteristics	N	Mean ± SE^#	Mean ± SE	Mean ± SE	Mean ± SE
Age (years)	1953	36.3 ± 0.45	30.3 ± 0.44	36.6 ± 0.73	50.2 ± 0.83	< 0.001
Weight (kg)	1939	71.5 ± 0.47	67.5 ± 0.55	74.0 ± 0.75	77.5 ± 1.01	< 0.001
Height (cm)	1936	167.1 ± 0.33	166.6 ± 0.39	168.6 ± 0.56	166.2 ± 0.54	0.002
Waist circumference (cm)	1944	82.3 ± 0.41	77.9 ± 0.48	84.1 ± 0.64	90.3 ± 0.86	< 0.001
Hip Circumference (cm)	1935	99.7 ± 0.46	97.1 ± 0.53	101.3 ± 0.62	103.8 ± 0.73	< 0.001
Waist to Hip Ratio	1932	0.82 ± 0.003	0.82 ± 0.003	0.83 ± 0.003	0.86 ± 0.005	< 0.001
Body mass index (kg/m²)	1930	25.7 ± 0.18	24.4 ± 0.22	26.1 ± 0.28	28.1 ± 0.38	< 0.001
Cholesterol level (mmol/L)	1848	4.5 ± 0.02	4.3 ± 0.2	4.5 ± 0.46	4.8 ± 0.06	< 0.001
Fasting Glucose (mmol/L)	1881	4.3 ± 0.05	4.0 ± 0.04	4.21 ± 0.07	5.0 ± 0.12	< 0.001

* Normotensive: blood pressure (BP) < 120/80 mmHg; Prehypertensive: BP = 120–139/80–89 mmHg and not on anti-hypertensive medication; Hypertensive: BP ≥ 140/90 or on anti-hypertensive medication
** Apart from height all characteristics showed a statistically significant increasing trend (P < 0.001) going from normotensive to hypertensive
#SE = Standard error

ISSN: 1471-2261