Impact of hypertension on mortality: Findings from the Ragama Health Study

Abstract

The relationship of hypertension on mortality is well known. In Sri Lanka this relationship has not been quantified in a comprehensive analysis. The objective of the presentation will be to describe the relationship of incident and prevalent hypertension on the 7-year cardio-vascular and all-cause mortality in the Ragama Health Study (RHS) cohort. RHS is a prospective cohort study that recruited nearly 3000 adults between 35-64 years of age resident in the Ragama Medical Officer of Health area in 2007. The participants were sampled using an age-stratified random sampling technique to represent the three 10-year age groups. Baseline assessment of the cohort included socio-demographic, lifestyle, anthropometric and clinical assessments. The cohort was followed up in 2010 and 2014 to determine incidence of important clinical outcomes. 7-year mortality of the cohort was determined through comprehensive community surveys conducted in 2012 and 2014/15. The RHS cohort comprises 2986 individuals who participated in the baseline survey. By the end of 2014, 107 participants had died. The all-cause mortality was significantly associated with a higher systolic hypertension at baseline after controlling for age and sex. One Hg mm increase in systolic blood pressure was associated with 1.02 times increase in all-cause mortality. This presentation will discuss the anthropometric, lifestyle, bio-chemical and clinical characteristics associated with the prevalence and the incidence of hypertension, and cardio-vascular and all-cause mortality over the seven year follow up period.