Blood pressure and lifestyle on Saba, Netherlands Antilles

During the 20th century, infectious disease morbidity and mortality generally waned whereas chronic degenerative diseases posed a growing burden at the global level. The population on Saba, Netherlands Antilles has recently experienced such an epidemiologic transition, and hypertension was reported...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of human biology 2009-05, Vol.21 (3), p.319-325
Main Authors: Soloway, Laura E., Demerath, Ellen W., Ochs, Natalie, James, Gary D., Little, Michael A., Bindon, James R., Garruto, Ralph M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
African Continental Ancestry Group
Age Distribution
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Female
Founder Effect
Humans
Hypertension - epidemiology
Hypertension - ethnology
Hypertension - etiology
Life Style
Male
Middle Aged
Netherlands Antilles - epidemiology
Overweight - complications
Overweight - epidemiology
Overweight - ethnology
Prevalence
Socioeconomic Factors
Young Adult
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Summary:During the 20th century, infectious disease morbidity and mortality generally waned whereas chronic degenerative diseases posed a growing burden at the global level. The population on Saba, Netherlands Antilles has recently experienced such an epidemiologic transition, and hypertension was reported to be extraordinarily high, although no prevalences have been reported and relationships with lifestyle factors associated with rapid modernization have not been explored. In this study, a medical and demographic questionnaires, as well as body composition and blood pressure measures were collected from 278 Saban men and women aged 18–91 years. When age and sex adjusted, 48% of the population was hypertensive. Age, BMI, and Afro‐Caribbean descent were all associated with higher blood pressures. In a second phase, 124 individuals of the 278 were invited to receive a longer questionnaire on individual exposure to modernizing influences such as travel and education. Higher blood pressure was associated with having lived in fewer different places in the past; those who stayed only on Saba or Statia had higher blood pressures than those who had also lived in more modernized areas. However, this was no longer statistically significant after adjustment for age and BMI. Lifestyle incongruity was positively associated with higher blood pressure in that those with more discord between material wealth and income were more likely to be hypertensive, and this remained statistically significant after adjustment for age and adiposity. In summary, hypertension is highly prevalent on Saba and tended to be associated with greater age, adiposity, Afro‐Caribbean ancestry, and lifestyle incongruity. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
ISSN:1042-0533
1520-6300
DOI:10.1002/ajhb.20862