Objective  To study the prevalence and influencing factors of hypertension of different stages among the community residents in Hunan province and to provide evidences for hypertension treatment and prevention.

  Methods  Using stratified cluster random sampling, we conducted a questionnaire survey, physical examination and laboratory measurement among 4 012 permanent residents aged more than 30 years in 24 communities selected from 6 administrative regions in Hunan province between June 2013 and May 2014.

  Results  Among all the participants, 1 394 hypertension patients were identified, with an overall hypertension prevalence rate of 34.75%. The number of patients classified as grade I, II, and III hypertension were 832, 418, and 144, with the prevalence rate of 20.74%, 10.42%, and 3.59%, respectively. Multivariate non-conditional logistic regression analysis demonstrated that at an elder age, high body mass index (BMI), and high homocysteine (HCY) level were the independent risk factors for hypertension among the community residents; whereas, female gender and high serum level of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were protective factors. Ordinal logistic regression analysis revealed that patients at elder age, smoking, drinking alcohol, and with high BMI were more likely to have a higher grade of hypertension.

  Conclusion  In Hunan province, gender, age, BMI, HDL-C and HCY level are major influencing factors for hypertension among community residents; while, age, smoking, drinking alcohol, and high BMI are impact factors for the severity of hypertension patients.