Associations of Education with Blood Pressure in Hypertensive Patients: A Chinese Community Survey

Abstract

Objective: To examine the association between education and blood pressure in hypertensive Chinese. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the health care center of a university affiliated hospital in 2008 to enroll 502 mild to moderate essential hypertensive patients. All participants completed a questionnaire addressing their sociode-mographic information before they were given a routine physical checkup. Results: The baseline blood pressure was 151.87/95.76 mmHg for 277 females and 149.80/97.74 mmHg for 225 males. Only few women reported smoke (4%, n = 11) or drink alcohol (6.9%, n = 19). Over half of men smoke and drink (63.2% and 52.9% respectively). Alcohol consumption was found different among educational attainment groups in males. Correlation analyses demonstrated that education was inversely related to systolic blood pressure in female hypertensives. Conclusion: Education is associated with blood pressure in females.