Relationship of casual blood pressure to smoking, education and occupation in a high density town near Harare, Zimbabwe.

Abstract

An analysis is presented on associations of smoking, education and occupation with blood pressure among residents of a high density town near Harare, Zimbabwe. A total of 973 persons aged five years and above were surveyed in 1993. Obesity was significantly (p < 0.001) correlated with blood pressure (systolic or diastolic). A significant linear relationship between blood pressure and age for each sex was observed (p < 0.001). Smoking was not associated with blood pressure in both sexes. There was little evidence to suggest that education was associated with systolic blood pressure in both sexes. Meanwhile, there was strong evidence to suggest that education was associated with diastolic blood pressure in males and not in females. Mean differences in diastolic blood pressure levels between unemployed females and females in formal employment (mean difference (MD) = -7.57; standard error (SE) = 3.15; p < 0.05), in self employment (MD = -10.28; SE = 3.27; p < 0.01) and in school (MD = -6.57; SE = 3.06; p < 0.05) were statistically significant. We suggest that further studies utilizing longitudinal data on the risk factors for hypertension be conducted.