Demographic characteristics and risk factors related to high blood pressure among healthy blood donors from Luanda, Angola

Abstract

Abstract Hypertension is a public health concern, mainly in resource-limited countries. We investigated the characteristics and risk factors related to high blood pressure in healthy blood donors from Angola. This was a multicentre retrospective study that includes 343 donors from December 2019 to September 2020. Men represented 93% of the population. The mean age was 32 ± 9 years. Mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) was 131 ± 12.3mmHg (ranging from 100mmHg to 160mmHg) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was 80.1 ± 9.72mmHg (from 56.0mmHg to 100mmHg). DBP was related to age and gender (p < 0.05). About 7.3% of the donors had high-pressure (> 140/90mmHg). Age between 20–40 years (OR: 2.52, p = 0.043), women (OR: 1.87, p = 0.548), non-urbanized areas (OR: 0.39, p = 0.067), high educational level (OR: 0.76, p = 0.637), employed (OR: 0.49, p = 0.491), voluntary donors (OR: 0.87, p = 0.799), blood group B (OR: 2.06, p = 0.346), and Rh- (OR: 0.26, p = 0.104), were potentially related with high-pressure. The high-pressure cases increased from December 2019 (4%) to September 2020 (28%) (p = 0.019). We showed high pressure among the healthy population. Demographic characteristics, ABO/Rh group, and year’s period are features that should be considered in cardiovascular disease control strategies. Biological and non-biological features related to blood pressure changes should be considered for further studies in the Angolan population.