Supervisors info:
Δημήτριος Τούσουλης, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική, ΕΚΠΑ
Ελένη Κυρίτση, Ομότιμη Καθηγήτρια, Νοσηλευτική, ΠΑΔΑ
Κωνσταντίνος Γκατζούλης, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Ιατρική, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
Introduction: Arterial hypertension is known to be a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease, one of the major problems in developed and developing industrialized countries worldwide. Dietary habits are, among other things, one of the most important factors that affect the occurrence of hypertension in people of different ages and therefore require further investigation.
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between dietary habits and arterial blood pressure in a population sample of the study «Corinthia».
Material-Method: The sample of this study consisted of 2,044 male and female residents from various regions of Corinth, aged 30 to 99 (study «Corinthia»). A questionnaire that was specially designed for the needs of the study was completed by the participants and the systolic and diastolic blood pressure was measured and recorded. The data of the study were analyzed using the SPSS software (version 20, SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL) and the statistical tests t-test, x2-test and multifactorial analysis were performed. The 5% threshold was considered to be the statistical significance level.
Results: Of the 2,044 participants, 40.1% were men and 59.9% were women. More often, hypertensives were men (p <0.001), with mean age at 65±12 (p <0.001), BMI at 28.82±4.57 Kg/m2 (p<0.001), systolic blood pressure at 152±19mmHg and diastolic at 87±11mmHg (p<0.001). Moreover, people with hypertension had diabetes in a higher percentage (18.1%) (p=0.061) and suffered from atrial fibrillation also in a higher percentage (5.2%) (p=0.020), compared to normotensives. 44.4% of hypertensive people received antihypertensive medication, with a significantly higher proportion of drugs being the ACE inhibitors/angiotensin II receptor (AT1) antagonists (p<0.001) and 34.2% of hypertensives consumed a specific diet for the treatment of hypertension. There is no statistically significant difference between normotensive and hypertensive people, regarding the consumption of different foods, with the exception of consumption of sweets (p=0.05). People who have moderate or high sweet consumption have an increased relative risk of developing hypertension by 38%or by 36% respectively, compared to people who rarely consume sweets regardless of confounding factors.
Conclusions: In this study, arterial hypertension was found to be related to demographic factors, such as gender and age, as well as dietary factors. It is very difficult to determine with certainty whether a particular dietary habit is responsible for the development of arterial hypertension, especially as other factors are involved in this process. However, because arterial hypertension is a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease and as data on health are constantly changing, it is necessary to carry out further research into the human dietary habits and whether they affect the cardiovascular health and health in general.
