Prevalence, self-awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in Lhasa, Tibet

To investigate the prevalence, self-awareness, and treatment of hypertension in Lhasa, Tibet, a total of 1370 native Tibetan aged '18 years were selected, using stratified proportional sampling. The study showed that the prevalence of hypertension was 51.2%, significantly higher in men (56.0%) than in women (48.0%) (P = .004). The hypertension prevalence increased with increasing age (77.8% in 60'74 y and 82.5% in '75 y groups) and was higher in urban, suburban, or agricultural area than in pastoral area (P < .001). The self-awareness, treatment, and control rate of hypertension were 63.5%, 24.3% and 7.7%, respectively. In multivariable regression analysis, age, urban residence, amount of daily intake of fat and oil, and body mass index <18.5 kg/m2 were independently associated with hypertension. In conclusion, hypertension was highly prevalent among native Tibetan people in Lhasa, and the rates of self-awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension were low.