Gender-specific determinants of blood pressure elevation in Angolan adults

Figures & data

Table 1. Gender differences in socio-demographic characteristics.

	Men	Women	p Value	All
Sample (n)	291 (47.8)	318 (52.2)	–	609 (100)
Age (yrs)
20–29	34 (11.68)	28 (8.80)	0.298	62 (10.18)
30–39	58 (19.94)	74 (23.27)	0.368	132 (21.68)
40–49	86 (29.55)	121 (38.06)	0.033	207 (33.99)
50–59	93 (31.96)	84 (26.41)	0.157	177 (29.06)
60–69	20 (6.87)	11 (3.46)	0.084	31 (5.09)
Educational level
Low	108 (37.1)	102 (32.1)	0.222	210 (34.5)
Medium	69 (23.7)	81 (25.5)	0.682	150 (24.6)
High	114 (39.2)	135 (42.4)	0.459	249 (40.9)
Socioeconomic class
Low	99 (38.1)	109 (34.4)	0.983	208 (34.3)
Middle	93 (31.9)	110 (34.6)	0.565	203 (33.4)
Upper	99 (38.1)	98 (30.8)	0.398	196 (32.3)
Tobacco use
Yes	25 (8.6)	14 (4.4)	0.052	39 (6.4)
No	178 (61.2)	264 (83)	0.000	442 (72.6)
Stopped	88 (30.2)	40 (12.6)	0.000	128 (21)
Physical activity
Yes	49 (16.8)	30 (9.4)	0.009	79 (13)
No	242 (83.2)	288 (90.6)	0.009	530 (87)

Table 2. Gender differences in clinical characteristics of a sample enrolled in the study

	Men	Women	p Value	All
Sample size (n)	291	318	–	609
Age (years)	44.8 ± 10.8	43.7 ± 9.7	0.162	44.2 ± 10.3
Body weight (kg)	68.0 ± 14.9	69.3 ± 15.7	0.310	68.7 ± 15.3
Height (cm)	167.5 ± 7	159.6 ± 6.6	<0.000	163.4 ± 7.9
BMI (kg/m^2)	24.1 ± 4.3	27.2 ± 5.8	<0.000	25.7 ± 5.4
WC (cm)	80.1 ± 12.9	83.9 ± 13.5	<0.000	82 ± 13.4
HC (cm)	91.4 ± 9.4	99.5 ± 11.5	<0.000	95.6 ± 11.3
WHR	0.87 ± 0.08	0.84 ± 0.10	<0.000	0.85 ± 0.09
Creatinine (mg/dL)	1.16 ± 0.17	1.01 ± 0.18	<0.000	1.08 ± 0.20
Glucose (mg/dL)	94.7 ± 19.5	93.2 ± 21.9	0.348	93.9 ± 20.8
Uric acid (mg/dL)	6.1 ± 1.7	4.7 ± 1.4	<0.000	5.4 ± 1.7
Triglycerides (mg/dL)	101.8 ± 41.8	98.6 ± 38.5	0.327	100.2 ± 40.1
Cholesterol (mg/dL)	189.6 ± 41.4	193.1 ± 36.4	0.267	191.4 ± 38.9
HDLc (mg/dL)	44.1 ± 10.3	47.6 ± 11.2	<0.000	45.9 ± 10.9
LDLc (mg/dL)	125.1 ± 41.8	125.7 ± 38.7	0.851	125.4 ± 40.2
LDLc/HDLc	3.06 ± 1.43	2.86 ± 1.32	0.069	2.95 ± 1.37
HR (bpm)	67 ± 10	69 ± 10	0.0010	68 ± 10
SBP (mmHg)	136.8 ± 22.7	133.1 ± 26.4	0.0194	134.9 ± 24.8
DBP (mmHg)	83.1 ± 14.2	82.7 ± 13.8	0.7604	82.9 ± 13.9
Obesity (%)	26 (8.9)	93 (29.2)	<0.000	119 (19.5)
Hypertension (%)	135 (46.4)	140 (44.0)	0.614	275 (45.2)
Use of AH drugs (%)	57 (19.6)	89 (27.9)	0.019	146 (23.9)
Diabetes (%)	16 (5.5)	19 (5.9)	0.936	35 (5.7)

p Value refers to gender comparison. Obesity was considered as BMI ≥30 kg/m². BMI, body mass index; WC, waist circumference; HC, hip circumference; WHR, waist-to-hip ratio; HDLc, high-density lipoprotein; LDLc, low-density lipoprotein; HR, heart rate; SBP, systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure.

Figure 1. Scatterplots of SBP against DBP showing the prevalence of systolic, diastolic or both systolic and diastolic hypertension among men (A) and women (B).

Figure 2. Correlation analysis showing the relationship between blood pressure and age (A and B) or BMI (D and E) for men and women. Graphs C and F show the slope of increase in BP with age or BMI, respectively. * p < 0.05.

Figure 3. The prevalence of hypertension for each age interval (A) or BMI category (B) is shown for men and women. Graphs C and D show the gender-specific SBP and DBP for each age interval or BMI category, respectively.

Table 3. Multiple regression coefficients stratified by gender.

	Men						Women
	SBP			DBP			SBP			DBP
	β	SE	P	β	SE	P	β	SE	P	β	SE	P
Intercept	53.10	–	–	30.68	–	–	83.01	–	–	41.72	–	–
Age	0.853	0.107	<0.0001	0.314	0.071	0.0003	1.330	0.131	<0.0001	0.548	0.070	<0.0001
BMI	1.064	0.281	0.0006	–	–	–	1.246	0.406	0.0013	0.631	0.116	<0.0001
WC	–	–	–	0.275	0.061	<0.0001	–	–	–	–	–	–
HC	–	–	–	–	–	–	−0.420	0.205	0.0265	–	–	–
Cholesterol	0.147	0.039	0.0002	0.115	0.025	0.0001	–	–	–	–	–	–
LDLc/HDLc	−2.631	1.161	0.0464	−1.787	0.748	0.0369	–	–	–	–	–	–

A stepwise regression analysis was performed. Those variables that were not independently associated to SBP or DBP with men or women, were not included. Data are presented as the mean β coefficient ± SEM.

Table 4. Crude and adjusted odds ratio for hypertension stratified by gender.

	MEN		WOMEN
	OR (95% CI)	Adjusted OR	OR (95% CI)	Adjusted OR
Age ≥45	5 (2.94-8.33)	4.94 (2.93-8.55)^a	7.70 (4.69-12.92)	7.66 (4.64-12.92)^a
BMI ≥25	3.48 (2.11-5.76)	3.48 (2.04-6.05)^b	1.97 (1.24-3.14)	1.94 (1.15-3.28)^b
WC	4.26 (2.11-9.20)	1.65 (0.67-4.15)^c	2.09 (1.31-3.37)	1.33 (0.67-2.63)^c
WHR	5.09 (3.04-8.69)	2.27 (1.23-4.22)^c	3.83 (2.22-6.86)	2.34 (1.24-4.53)^c
Diabetes	1.75 (0.49-6.99)	1.17 (0.26-4.72)^c	3.53 (1.29-11.23)	0.51 (0.14-1.64)^c
Socioeconomic level
Upper	1 (reference)	1 (reference)	1 (reference)	1 (reference)
Middle	1.39 (0.79-2.48)	2.73 (1.26-6.22)^c	1.48 (0.84-2.60)	1.54 (0.77-3.14)^c
Low	1.70 (0.97-3.00)	1.52 (0.73-3.27)^c	1.69 (0.98-2.95)	1.48 (0.74-2.96)^c
Educational level
High	1 (reference)	1 (reference)	1 (reference)	1 (reference)
Medium	1.05 (0.57-1.93)	1.33 (0.62-2.87)^c	1.14 (0.63-2.03)	1.16 (0.58-2.33)^c
Low	1.33 (0.62-2.87)	2.08 (1.01-4.36)^c	3.92 (2.28-6.85)	1.61 (0.80-3.21)^c
Physical activity
Yes	1 (reference)	1 (reference)	1 (reference)	1 (reference)
No	1.25 (0.67-2.32)	1.39 (0.66-2.99)^c	1.03 (0.62-2.22)	1.17 (0.45-3.06)^c

Models adjusted by ^aBMI; ^bage; or ^cage and BMI. WC cutoff was set as 94 cm for men and 80 cm for women. WHR cutoff was set as 0.9 for men and 0.8 for women. Data are present as mean (95% CI).