Objective: To describe the prevalence of hypertension among Mexican adults, and to compare to that observed among Mexican-Americans living in the US.
Material and method: The primary data source came from adults (>20 years) sampled (n=33366) in the Mexican National Health and Nutrition Survey 2006 (ENSANUT 2006). Hypertension was defined when systolic blood pressure was >or=140 and/or diastolic was >or= 90 or patients previously diagnosed.
Results: A total of 43.2% of participants were classified as having hypertension. We found a positive statistically significant association (p<0.05) between hypertension and BMI, abdominal obesity, previous diagnosis of diabetes and hypercholesterolemia. Subjects with hypertension had a significantly higher odd of having a history of diabetes or hypercholesterolemia. Hypertension had a higher prevalence in Mexico than among Mexican-Americans living in the US.
Conclusions: Hypertension is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases in Mexico. In the last six years in Mexico, a substantial increase (25%) has been observed in contrast to the reduction seen among Mexican-Americans (-15%).