Association of general and central obesity with hypertension.

BACKGROUND & AIM: Hypertension as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease has growing prevalence. An increase in body weight is typically followed by an increase in blood pressure. This study aimed to investigate the association of general and central obesity with hypertension in Indonesian women using WHO and Indonesian classification systems.

METHODS: Cross-sectional study of Indonesian women aged 18 years or and more (313,714 participants), using national level Indonesia National Basic Health Research (2013).

RESULTS: The prevalence of hypertension in Indonesian women in this study was 32.8%. Based on logistic regression analysis, hypertension was significantly associated with residential area, educational attainment, self-reported smoking status, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, body mass index and waist circumference. Furthermore, the odds of having hypertension for general and central obesity according to WHO classification were adjusted odds ration (aOR) 2.61, 95% CI 2.52-2.70 and aOR 1.50, 95% CI 1.46-1.53. By Indonesian classification were aOR 2.21, 95% CI 2.16-2.26 and aOR 1.48, 95% CI 1.45-1.51.

CONCLUSION: By using International WHO and standard Indonesia classification systems, general and central obesity were associated with hypertension in Indonesia women. Thus, not only general obesity but also central obesity should be used to assess obesity in Indonesian women.