Dennis Mbae^1,, Judith Munga¹, Irene Ogada²

Hypertension is one of the leading cardiovascular diseases globally. The documentation on body composition, anthropometric indices and blood pressure level is limited, among Sub-Sahara Africa countries, despite the growing burden of non-communicable diseases. This study determined associations between body composition and anthropometric indices with blood pressure among hypertensive patients attending a referral hospital in Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya. A hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted among 234 adult hypertensive patients attending the hypertension clinic. A researcher administered questionnaire was used to collect data for six months. The body composition, waist circumference, weight and height were measured. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Most (88.0%) of the participants had increased risk of cardiovascular disease based on waist hip ratio of men: ≥0.90cm; women: ≥0.85cm. Nearly half (42.7%) of the participants had uncontrolled blood pressure (≥140/90 mm Hg). Further, 62.4% of the participants were overweight (BMI: 25.0-29.9), while 25.2% were obese. Blood pressure levels were significantly associated with BMI (X²=26.6; p<0.001), body fat(X²=10.8; p=0.028), waist hip ratio(X²=8.2; p=0.004) and skeletal muscle (X²=16.5; p<0.001). Skeletal muscle, BMI, waist circumference and visceral fat were significantly associated with higher odds of uncontrolled blood pressure. Body composition and anthropometric indices were associated with blood pressure levels among hypertensive patients.

hypertension, Tharaka-nithi county, body composition, anthropometric indices