Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Gender differences in prevalence and socioeconomic determinants of hypertension: findings from the WHO STEPs survey in a rural community of Vietnam

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 20, pages 109–115 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

In Vietnam, hypertension was estimated to cause a large number of deaths in hospitals. However, population-based knowledge about the magnitude of hypertension in Vietnam and its relationship with socioeconomic status, especially in the rural communities, still remains scarce. This paper, taking advantage of a study on noncommunicable disease (NCD) risk factors in Bavi district, Vietnam, using the WHO STEPs approach, estimates the prevalence of hypertension in the setting and examines its association with some socioeconomic factors. A representative sample comprising 2000 adults aged 25–64 years were selected randomly and surveyed in 2002. The JNC VII criteria for hypertension were used. Socioeconomic status of the study subjects was estimated by assessing their education, occupation and economic conditions. Descriptive techniques and multivariate logistic regression were used. The prevalence of hypertension was 14.1%. Of hypertensives, only 17.4% were aware of their hypertensive status. Men were hypertensive more often than women and age was positively associated with hypertension. The association between hypertension and socioeconomic status was complex and differed between men and women. Among men, those with lower educational and occupational status but who were richer were more likely to be hypertensive. More women with lower occupational and economic status were hypertensive.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Beaglehole R . International trends in coronary heart disease mortality, morbidity and risk factors. Epidemiol Rev 1990; 12: 1–15.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Kannel WB . Blood pressure as a cardiovascular risk factor. JAMA 1996; 275: 1571–1576.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Rosenfeld JB, Silverberg DS, Viskoper R . Hypertension Control in the Community. Libbey (John) and Company Ltd: London, 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Whenton PK . Epidemiology of hypertention. Lancet 1994; 344: 101–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. World Health Organisation. World Health report 2002. World Health Organization: Geneva, 2003.

  6. Reddy KS, Yusuf S . Emerging epidemic of cardiovascular disease in developing countries. Circulation 1998; 97: 596–601.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Colhoun HM, Hemingway H, Poulter NR . Socio-economic status and blood pressure: an overview analysis. J Hum Hypertens 1998; 12: 91–110.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Kaplan G, Keil J . Socioeconomic factors and cardiovascular disease: a review of the literature. Circulation 1993; 88 (4): 1973–1998.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Malhotra P, Kumari S, Kumar R, Jain S, Sharma BK . Prevalence and determinants of hypertension in an un-industrialized rural population of North India. J Hum Hypertens 1999; 13: 467–472.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Yu Z, Nissinen A, Vartiainen E, Song G, Guo Z, Zheng G et al. Associations between socio-economic status and cardiovascular risk factor in an urban population in China. Bull World Health Organ 2000; 78: 1296–1304.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Shah SMA, Luby S, Rahbar M, Khan AW, McCormick JB . Hypertension and its determinants among adults in high mountain villages of the Northern Areas of Pakistan. J Hum Hypertens 2001; 15: 107–112.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Pereira MA, Kriska A, Collins V, Dowse G, Tuomilehto J, Alberti K et al. Occupational status and cardiovascular disease risk factors in the rapidly developing, high-risk population of Mauritius. Am J Epidemiol 1998; 148 (2): 148–159.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Ministry of Health of Vietnam. Vietnam public health report. Ministry of Health of Vietnam: Hanoi, 2003.

  14. Ministry of Health of Vietnam. Vietnam health statistics yearbook 2002. Ministry of Health Vietnam: Hanoi, 2003.

  15. Bonita R, De Counter M, Dwyer T, Jamrozi K, Winkelmann R . Surveillance of risk factors for noncommunicable disease: The WHO STEPwise approach. World Health Organization: Geneva, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Chuc NTK, Diwan VK . FilaBavi, a demographic surveillance site, an epidemiological field laboratory in Vietnam. Scand J Public Health 2003; 31 (Suppl 62): 3–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Minh HV, Chuc NTK, Huong DL, Byass P, Wall S . Methodological Pilot Study on Surveillance of NCD Risk Factors Using the WHO STEPwise. The Field Laboratory of Bavi: Hanoi, 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Chobanian AV, Bakris GL, Black HR, Cushman WC, Green LA, Izzo Jr JL et al. The seventh report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure: The JNC 7 Report. JAMA 2003; 289(19): 2560–2572.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Omar BA, Cynthia BP, Lopez AD, Murray C, Lozano R, Mie I . Age standardization of rates: a new WHO standard. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2002. GPE Discussion Paper Series: No.31 EIP/GPE/EBD.

    Google Scholar 

  20. National Heart Institute of Vietnam. Survey on noncommunicable diseases risk factors in Vietnam. National Heart Institute of Vietnam: Hanoi, 2002.

  21. Ministry of Health of Vietnam. Vietnam national health survey 2001–2002. Ministry of Health Vietnam: Hanoi, 2003.

  22. National Heart Institute of Vietnam. Preparatory document for the VIIth party congress; situation of cardiovascular disease. Ministry of Health: Hanoi, 1996.

  23. Ministry of Health of Vietnam. Vietnam health statistics yearbook 1998. Ministry of Health Vietnam: Hanoi, 1999.

  24. Huong DL, Minh HV, Byass P . Applying verbal autopsy to determine cause of death in rural Vietnam. Scand J Public Health 2003; 31 (Suppl 62): 19–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Minh HV, Byass P, Wall S . Mortality from cardiovascular diseases in Bavi District, Vietnam. Scand J Public Health 2003; 31 (Suppl 62): 26–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. World Health Organisation, World Heart Federation. The Surf report1: Surveillance of risk factors related to noncommunicable diseases: current status of global date. World Health Organization: Geneva, 2003.

  27. Ng N . Risk Factors of Elevated Blood Pressure in Purworejo, Central Java Province, Indonesia: A Preliminary Study. Umeå International School of Public Health, Umeå University: Umeå, Sweden, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Ueshima H, Zhang X-H, Choudhury SR . Epidemiology of hypertension in China and Japan. J Hum Hypertens 2000; 14: 765–769.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Singh RB et al. Prevalence and determinants of hypertension in the Indian social class and heart survey. J Hum Hypertens 1997; 11: 51–56.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Sarraf Z N, AminiNik S . Blood pressure pattern in urban and rural areas in Isfahan, Iran. J Hum Hypertens 1997; 11: 425–428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Bharucha N, Kuruvilla T . Hypertension in the Parsi community of Bombay: a study on prevalence, awareness and compliance to treatment. BMC Public Health 2003; 3 (1): 1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Gu D, Reynolds K, Wu X, Chen J, Duan X, Muntner P et al. Prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in China. Hypertension 2002; 40 (6): 920–927.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Jo I, Ahn Y, Lee J, Shin KR, Lee HK, Shin C . Prevalence, awareness, treatment, control and risk factors of hypertension in Korea: the Asian study. J Hypertens 2001; 19 (9): 1523–1532.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Sjol A, Thomsen KK, Schroll M . Secular trends in blood pressure levels in Denmark 1964–1991. Int J Epidemiol 1998; 27: 614–622.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Sarraf-Zadegan N, Boshtam M, Rafiei M . Risk factors for coronary artery disease in Isfahan, Iran. Eur J Public Health 1999; 1: 20–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Tatsanavivat P, Klungboonkrong V, Chirawatkul A, Bhuripanyo K, Manmontri A, Chitanondh H et al. Prevalence of coronary heart disease and major cardiovascular risk factors in Thailand. Int J Epidemiol 1998; 27: 405–409.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Elliott P, Fehily AM, Sweetnaam PM, Yarnell JW . Diet, alcohol, body mass, and social factors in relation to blood pressure: the Caerphilly Heart Study. J Epidemiol Commun Health 1987; 41: 37–43.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Murray CJL, Lopez AD . Alternative projections of mortality and disability by cause, 1990–2020: Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet 1997; 349: 1448–1504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Duncan BB, Schmidt MI, Achutti AC, Polanczyk CA, Benia LR, Maia AA. Socioeconomic distribution of non-communicable disease risk factors in urban Brazil: the case of Porto Alegre. Bull Pan Am Health Organ 1993; 27: 337–349.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Yu Z, Nissinen A, Vartiainen E, Song G, Guo Z, Tian H . Changes in cardiovascular risk factors in different socioeconomic groups: seven year trends in a Chinese urban population. J Epidemiol Community Health 2000; 54 (9): 692–696.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Joshi PP, Kate SK, Shegokar V . Blood pressure trends and life style risk factors in rural India. J Assoc Physician India 1992; 41: 579–581.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Agarwal AK, Yunus M, Khan AE . A clinical–epidemiological study of hypertension in rural population of Jawan Block, Distt, Aligarh (UP) India. J R Soc Health 1994; 114: 17–19.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Mendez MA, Cooper R, Wilks R, Luke A, Forrester T . Income, education, and blood pressure in adults in Jamaica, a middle-income developing country. Int J Epidemiol 2003; 32 (3): 400–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Gaskin PS, Walker SP, Forrester TE, Grantham-McGregor SM . Early linear growth retardation and later blood pressure. Eur J Clin Nutr 2000; 54: 563–567.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Hsia AJ . Cardiovascular disease in women. Med Clin Noth Am 1998; 82 (1): 1–19.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research is supported by a special grant from FAS, the Swedish Council for Social and Work Life Research, No 2003-0075. We acknowledge technical supports from the Surveillance, Non-Communicable Disease Cluster, The World Health Organization.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Public Health, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam

    H Van Minh & N T K Chuc

  2. Umeå International School of Public Health, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    P Byass & S Wall

Authors
  1. H Van Minh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. P Byass
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. N T K Chuc
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. S Wall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to H Van Minh.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Van Minh, H., Byass, P., Chuc, N. et al. Gender differences in prevalence and socioeconomic determinants of hypertension: findings from the WHO STEPs survey in a rural community of Vietnam. J Hum Hypertens 20, 109–115 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1001942

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1001942

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links