Prevalence and risk factors of pre-hypertension in Congolese pre and post menopausal women.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess the prevalence of prehypertension and its associated factors in a population of Congolese pre and postmenopausal women.

METHODS: We had consecutively recruited 200 women (100 premenopausal and 100 postmenopausal) aged 40 - 60 years at the department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University of Kinshasa Hospital, and AKRAM Medical Center in Kinshasa, DRC. An interview was carried out using a questionnaire that comprised questions related to lifestyle, menses characteristics, medical history of diabetes, CVD, hypertension, current antihypertensive medication and use of traditional medicine. In addition, physical examination and biological measurements were performed. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess associated factors with prehypertension.

RESULTS: Of the participants, 34% were normotensive, 38.5 % prehypertensive and 27.5% hypertensive. Compared to normal blood pressure, prehypertension was common in the older (age>50 years of age) women. Menopause, the use of traditional medicine and older age were associated with prehypertension. However, only menopause (aOR: 2.71; 95%CI: 1.10-3.52) and the use of traditional medicine (aOR: 2.24; 95% CI: 1.07-4.7) remained associated with prehypertension in a multivariate logistic regression analysis.

CONCLUSION: This study showed that prehypertension is common among Congolese menopausal women, and that menopause and the use of traditional medicine were the main factors associated with prehypertension.