Nyefene Joe Dare¹, Collins Afriyie Appiah^2,, Christina Nti³, Matilda Steiner-Asiedu¹

Hypertension is one of the commonest non-communicable diseases seen among elderly persons in Ghana in recent times, with many preventable factors contributing to its prevalence. This study sought to establish the determinants of hypertension among elderly people living in the Bongo district of Ghana. This was a cross-sectional study conducted among 240 participants, aged 60 years and above, in 5 randomly selected centres in the Bongo district. Data on participants smoking habits, salt intake behaviour, alcohol consumption and physical activity level were collected. Blood pressure and anthropometric measurements were taken. The prevalence of hypertension among the participants was 38.3%. Past smoking behaviour (OR=2.541, p=0.043), high alcohol intake (OR=1.657, p=0.040), high salt intake (OR=3.839, p=0.037) and physical activity (OR= 0.804, p=0.032), obesity (OR=2.311, p=0.019) and low socioeconomic status (OR=2.211, p=0.029) were the determinants of hypertension among the study participants. Hypertension among elderly people in the Bongo district is on the ascendancy and assuming proportion of public health importance. Findings from this study could serve as an impetus for public health policy formulation for prevention and early diagnosis of hypertension among elderly people in the Bongo district and other resource poor rural communities in Ghana.

hypertension, smoking, salt intake, alcohol intake, elderly people