Sex difference in effect of obesity on prevalence of hypertension among the elderly in Anhui province

Objective To assess the relationship between the prevalence of obesity and hypertension by sex.Methods Stratified cluster random sampling method was applied to conduct a questionnaire survey and physical examination among 1 023 elderly residents aged 60 years or older in Anhui province during July to September 2013.The relationship between obesity and the prevalence of hypertension was explored with logistic regression analysis.Results In the elderly, the prevalence of obesity and abdominal obesity were 8.8% and 64.2%, respectively, and 54.0% of the participants were hypertension patients.Compared to normal weight subjects, the odds ratios(OR) of hypertension for the elderly who were obesity was 3.067(95% confidence interval95%CI:1.783-5.275)after adjusting for age, educational attainment, marital status, smoking and alcohol drinking.There was a sex difference in the correlation between obesity and hypertension only in the female elderly(OR=3.780, 95%CI:1.851-7.716).No correlation was observed between abdominal obesity and hypertension in the elderly.Conclusion Sex difference was found in the relationship between obesity and hypertension.The effect of body mass index on the incidence of hypertension is more strong than waist circumference.