Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Hypertension among Private and Public Secondary School Teachers in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria

Hypertension is one of the major attributable risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. It affects both high and low income groups. There is need for constant research to be done to evaluate its prevalence. This study determined the prevalence and associated risk factors of hypertension among private and public secondary school teachers in Benin City, Edo State. A cross sectional study design was employed in this study. Twelve (12) schools in Benin City were selected using a multistage sampling technique and 252 teachers were equally drafted from both public and private secondary schools using the same technique. One hundred and twenty-six teachers each from both public and private secondary schools participated in the study. A constructive standardized questionnaires was used to collect data. Blood pressures of the participants were measured using a digital blood pressure apparatus. Anthropometric measurements such as the height, weight, BMI, waist circumference and hip circumference of the participants were also taken. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package and Service Solution (SPSS) version 22.0. Level of significance was set at p < 0.05. Findings from the study revealed an overall prevalence of hypertension rate of (37.3%) for public secondary school teachers and (26.2%) for private secondary school teachers, though not statistically significant (p < 0.05). Age was found to be a significant factor of hypertension (p = 0.001) among the private secondary school teachers. The ≤ 40 years, had the highest prevalence of hypertension (63.3%) than those aged ≥ 41 years (36.7%). While teachers in public secondary school aged ≥ 41 years recorded the highest prevalence of hypertension (80.0%) than those ages ≤ 40 years (20.0%). Monthly income showed a statistical significance with hypertension prevalence (p = 0.005) among teachers in private secondary schools, with higher number of hypertensive teachers (84.8%) earning ≤ ₦49,999. A higher number of hypertensive teachers (93.6%) in public secondary school earned ≥ ₦50,000, and monthly income did not have significant impact on hypertension prevalence among this study group. BMI also influenced hypertension prevalence among the surveyed public (p = 0.022) and private (p = 0.009) secondary school teachers with the prevalence being more among public (70.2%) compared to private secondary school teacher. Family history did not show significant impact on prevalence of hypertension. The result of this study showed a high prevalence of hypertension among the surveyed groups, therefore there is need for general public health education, periodic screening and monitoring of the blood pressure of teachers to be incorporated into the school health program.