ICMR study: 1 in 3 suffering from prehypertension in India

More than 33 per cent of Indians suffer from prehypertension, a recent Indian Council of Medical Research study has said, raising concerns on the impact of the condition as it often progresses to full-blown hypertension.

In the study comprising 7,43,067 adults aged between 18 and 54 years, researchers from the ICMR’s National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR) conducted a secondary analysis of data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) that covered 707 districts in 28 Indian states and eight Union territories.

Interestingly, the study found that women, literate individuals, alcohol consumers and individuals with elevated blood glucose levels had lower odds of being prehypertensive.

There was no statistically significant link between tobacco consumption and the prevalence of prehypertension, it also said.

Prehypertension prevalence varied widely across Indian districts, with an overall rate of 33.7 per cent, ranging from 15.6 per cent to 63.4 per cent.

The southern region of the country has a lower average prevalence at 30.2 per cent.

The prevalence in Puducherry was 27.7 per cent, Telangana 28.2 per cent, Tamil Nadu 29.7 per cent and Andhra Pradesh 29.8 per cent.

The northern region also performed well with an average rate of 39.4 per cent, with Himachal Pradesh at 35.3 per cent and Chandigarh at 28.6 per cent.

Conversely, Jammu and Kashmir showed a higher hypertension rate of 45.2 per cent, Ladakh 48.8 per cent, Rajasthan 43.5 per cent and Chhattisgarh 38.8 per cent, according to the study.

Multiple studies have reported the rising prevalence of prehypertension in various regions of the country.