Hypertension in Mexican adults: results from the National Health and Nutrition Survey 2006

objective: to describe the prevalence of hypertension among mexican adults, and to compare to that observed among mexican-americans living in the us. material and method: the primary data source came from adults (>20 years) sampled (n=33366) in the mexican national health and nutrition survey 2006 (ensanut 2006). hypertension was defined when systolic blood pressure was >140 and/or diastolic was >90 or patients previously diagnosed. results: a total of 43.2% of participants were classified as having hypertension. we found a positive statistically significant association (p<0.05) between hypertension and bmi, abdominal obesity, previous diagnosis of diabetes and hypercholesterolemia. subjects with hypertension had a significantly higher odd of having a history of diabetes or hypercholesterolemia. hypertension had a higher prevalence in mexico than among mexican-americans living in the us. conclusions: hypertension is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases in mexico. in the last six years in mexico, a substantial increase (25%) has been observed in contrast to the reduction seen among mexican-americans (-15%).