Prevalência de níveis pressóricos elevados e fatores associados em adultos de Lages/SC

background: few population-based studies have been carried out in brazilian medium-sized cities in order to estimate high levels of blood pressure and associated factors. objective: to estimate the prevalence of high blood pressure and associated factors among adults in lages,southern brazil. methods: population-based cross sectional study carried out in adults aged 20 to 59 years living in the urban area (n=2,022). the dependent variable was high levels of blood pressure (> 140/90 mmhg). exploratory variables: sex, age, schooling, per capita family income, self-reported ethnicity, body mass index, tobacco and alcohol addiction, physical activity and self-reported diabetes. the chi-square test and linear trends were used to test associations between the dependent variable and the exploratory variables. unadjusted and adjusted multivariate poisson regression analyses were performed. results: response rate was 98.6%. the prevalence of high blood pressure levels was 33.7% (95ci%: 31.7-36.1) for the population as a whole, ranging from 31.1% in men to 38.1% in women. after statistical adjustment for possible confounders, the following were associated with high blood pressure levels: male gender (pr =1.22 95%ci 1.1-1.4), older age, overweight (pr= 1.40 95%ci 1.18-1.67), obesity (pr = 1.95 95% ci 1.61-2.36), asian ethnicity (pr 1.29 95%ci 1.12-1.48) and self-reported diabetes mellitus (pr 1.29 95%ci 1.12-1.48). conclusions: one third of the assessed adults presented high blood pressure levels, similar to most of the brazilian findings. factors that can be prevented, such as overweight, obesity and self-reported diabetes were associated with high blood pressure levels.