Background

Increased blood pressure is often a consequence of obesity. However, other disease states, as well as some lifestyle practices may lead to hypertension. Even though measurement of blood pressure is a simple routinely conducted procedure, hypertension may remain undetected in a large percentage of the population. Hypertension is a risk factor for the metabolic syndrome, thus increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The relationship between lifestyle practices, measures obesity and hypertension has not been fully investigated in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Aim

To investigate the association between anthropometric, and demographic characteristics with hypertension in Non-diabetic Saudi Adults 
Method

A cross sectional design was employed to conduct this study, which is part of a larger study to validate a "diabetes risk score" for Saudi people. Non diabetic adults individuals aged >18 years were recruited from nine health centers in Jeddah. Anthropometric measurements (weight, height, waist circumference, hip circumference, and neck circumference) and blood pressure were taken. Recruits were interviewed for medical history and demographic characteristics using a predesigned questionnaire. Blood samples were obtained while fasting and one hour following the ingestion of 50 g of oral glucose. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C ) was also measured. A fasting glucose of < 5.6 mmol/L, and a one hour value of < 7.8 mmol/L was considered normal. Hypertension was defined as DBP/SBP of > 140/90 mm Hg, or taking treatment. Characteristics of individuals with hypertension were compared to those with normal blood pressure, and multiple logistic regression with hypertension as the dependent variable was used to evaluate the most significantly associated factors with glucose intolerance.
Results

470 adults (mean age ±SD = 30.23±10.83) were found to have normal glucose tolerance with hypertension detected in 51 of them (10.9%) , and 164  (mean age ±SD = 37.5±12.98) had IGT, with 36 (or 22.0%) of them being hypertensive. Smoking, shorter sleep duration, and measures of obesity were all significantly higher in hypertensive adults group. However, following multiple logistic regression analysis only BMI and age showed significant association with hypertension (P=0.000, and 0.001 respectively).
Discussion

These preliminary findings show the strong association of obesity; reflected on BMI; and hypertension. Not finding an association with smoking habits or other lifestyle characteristics might be due to incomplete sample collection. Data will be reanalyzed at a later stage once sample collection is complete.

The association between anthropometric, and demographic characteristics with hypertension in non-diabetic Saudi adults