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Table 3 Overview of risk factors associated with hypertension among older adults in Africa

From: Determinants of systemic hypertension in older adults in Africa: a systematic review

No.

Country

Reference

Significant harmful (higher HTN) variables in crude analysis

Significant protective (lower HTN) variables in crude analysis

NS variables in crude analysis

Harmful Determinants of (higher) HTN

Determinants of lower HTN

NS variables in multivariate model

1

Nigeria

Abegunde 2013 [24]

   

Female gender, decreasing monthly income, increasing BMI

 

alcohol intake

2

Ghana

Boateng 2017 [21]

   

For systolic stage 1 or 2 HTN: increasing BMI category, alcohol intake, higher wealth index, female sex

traditional religion,

Place of residence, depression or ethnicity for stage 1 or 2 SHTN; religion not significantly associated with stage 1 SHTN.

3

Ghana

Boateng 2017 [21]

   

For diastolic stage 1 or 2 HTN: increasing BMI category, higher wealth index

traditional religion, other religion

Place of residence, depression or ethnicity for stage 1 or 2 DHTN; religion except traditional or other religion not significantly associated with stage of DHTN.

4

Tanzania

Dewhurst 2013 [25]

   

BMI (continuous variable), female sex, older age group ≥85 years, Chagga tribal origin, upland village dwelling

 

Presence of (moderate or severe) disability (by Barthel Index Score); age groups 75–79 and 80–84 years

5

Tunisia

Hammami 2011 [26]

Females, Older age group, dependency, self-reported diabetes, overweight, abdominal obesity

 

Education, urban-rural residence, depression, marital status, physical activity

Diabetes, BMI, Dependency (disability)

 

age, sex, marital status, region, educational level, physical activity, depression

6

Ghana

Lloyd-Sherlock 2014 [18]

   

older age group, female sex, increasing BMI, smoker

no education, alcohol consumption, rural residence

physical activity, wealth quintile, health insurance

7

South Africa

Lloyd-Sherlock 2014 [18]

   

older age group, female sex, increasing BMI

tertiary educational level, alcohol consumption

smoking, residence, wealth quintile, health insurance

8

Ghana

Lloyd-Sherlock 2017 [19]

   

older age group (65–69 years), female sex, richer quintiles

no education, rural residence

Nil

9

South Africa

Lloyd-Sherlock 2017 [19]

   

older age group (75+ years), female sex, richest quintile

Higher (tertiary) educational level

urban-rural residence

10

Senegal

Macia 2012 [30]

Older age, higher BMI

 

Sex, educational level, marital status, doctor visits in the previous years

Older age group; overweight (BMI ≥25 kg/m2)

 

Sex, educational level, marital status

11

Kenya

Mathenge 2010 [31]

Urban residence, Kikuyu tribe

  

Urban residence, Kikuyu tribe

 

Adjusted for age, sex, SES quartile, BMI, WHR, smoking status, alcohol use, diabetes (by measurement), cholesterol

12

Ghana

Minicuci 2014 [22]

Older age, marital status, ethnicity, residence, wealth quintile

 

sex

older age, urban residence, overweight/obesity

underweight BMI < 18.5; Upper East and Upper West regions

sex, educational level, administrative regions except Upper East and Upper West

13

Ghana

Nuertey 2017 [34]

overweight/obesity

  

overweight/obesity

 

Model adjusted for sex, religion, region of residence, ethnicity, marital status, education, social class, use of eye glasses, diabetes, arthritis, previous surgeries, mean arterial pressure, smoking status, hearing loss, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein, coronary risk ratio

14

South Africa

Peltzer 2013 [23]

Females, Older age (60–69-year group), coloured race; self-reported conditions (diabetes, stroke, arthritis), overall self-reported health status (moderate), being overweight (BMI ≥25 kg/m2); having had ≥5 outpatient visits in past 12 months; overweight, severe dependency

alcohol use in past month; underweight (BMI < 18.5 kg/m2)

marital status, educational level, wealth, urban-rural residence, physical activity, daily tobacco use, fruit and vegetable intake, social cohesion index

Coloured race, self-reported history of stroke, frequent outpatient visits in the past 12 months

alcohol use in past month

Age, sex, marital status, past medical history of diabetes, subject health status, activity limitation (dependency)

15

CAR, Congo

Pilleron 2017 [36]

Female sex, increasing age, living in Republic of Congo, urban residence, previous occupation as craftsman/storekeeper or being jobless, increasing BMI, high cholesterol, eating 3 or more meals daily

current smoker, high physical activity ≥150 min/wk

marital status, primary education, diabetes by measurement, alcohol intake

increasing age, living in Congo, previous occupation as craftsman/storekeeper or being jobless, increasing BMI, eating 3 or more meals daily

current or ex-smoker, high physical activity ≥150 min/wk

sex, rural-urban residence, primary education, cholesterol level, diabetes, alcohol consumption

16

Nigeria

Raji 2017 [37]

female sex, unmarried, urban residence, never smoked, never drank alcohol, overweight/obesity

 

older age, educational level, socioeconomic class, self-reported diabetes, history of transient ischaemic attack, diagnosis of lifetime depression

high educational level, urban or semi-urban residence, overweight/obesity

female sex, currently unmarried

older age, high SES, current smoking, current alcohol consumption, absence of self-reported diabetes

17

Uganda

Scholten 2011 [38]

   

Older age, urban residence

HIV infection (on or not on ART)

sex, marital status, education

18

Cameroon

Tianyi 2017 [39]

overweight/obesity

occupational level (≥medium)

age, sex, marital status, illiteracy, occupational level

overweight/obesity

 

age, sex, marital status, illiteracy, occupational level

19

Ghana

Tyrovolas 2015 [20]

   

higher BMI categories, self-reported diabetes, self-reported stroke, higher fruit intake

underweight BMI < 18.5

Alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity, vegetable intake, education, wealth. Adjusted for age, sex and marital status.

20

South Africa

Tyrovolas 2015 [20]

   

higher BMI categories, alcohol intake, ex-smoker, low physical activity, self-reported stroke, higher vegetable intake

heavy alcohol user, low level physical activity, secondary level of education

Self-reported diabetes, fruit intake, wealth. Adjusted for age, sex and marital status.

  1. ART antiretroviral therapy, BMI body mass index, CAR Central African Republic, DHTN diastolic hypertension, HTN hypertension, NS not statistically significant, SAGE Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health, SHTN systolic hypertension, SES socio-economic status, WHR waist-to-hip ratio