Physiological, Behavioral, and Dietary Characteristics Associated with Hypertension among Kenyan Defence Forces

Table 1

Selected demographic, social behavior, and dietary characteristics of the study population by hypertension status.

Variable	Hypertensive 𝑁 (%)	Normotensive 𝑁 (%)	OR (95% CI)	𝑃 value
Age (years)
18 to 28	11 (6.47)	12 (7.06)	1.00
29 to 38	19 (11.12)	51 (30.00)	0.40 (0.15–1.07)
39 to 48	75 (44.12)	84 (49.41)	0.97 (0.40–2.33)
49 to 58	65 (38.24)	23 (13.53)	3.96 (1.2–7.94)	<0.05
Gender
Male	161 (94.7)	151 (88.8)	1.00
Female	9 (5.3)	19 (11.2)	0.44 (0.19–1.01)	<0.05
Education level
Primary	29 (17.0)	3 (1.76)	1.00	<0.05
Secondary	119 (70)	65 (38.24)	0.19 (0.06–0.50)
Tertiary	22 (11.18)	102 (58.24)	0.10 (0.01–0.75)
University	3 (1.76)	3 (1.76)	0.10 (0.01–0.75)
Alcohol consumption
Yes	107 (62.94)	88 (52.07)	1.56 (0.41–1.98)	0.043
No	63 (37.06)	81 (47.93)	0.64 (0.1–0.98)
Frequency
Daily	14 (12.50)	2 (2.27)	6.29 (0.6–6.77)	<0.01
1–3 days/week	70 (62.50)	29 (32.95)	3.39 (0.2–3.43)	<0.05
1–3 days/month	22 (19.64)	39 (44.32)	0.31 (0.05–0.96)
Once/month	6 (5.36)	18 (20.45)	0.22 (0.04–0.67)
Type of alcohol
Beer	93 (83.04)	66 (74.16)	1.54 (0.3–1.6)	<0.05
Wine	6 (5.36)	13 (14.61)	0.32 (0.2–0.52)
Spirit	15 (11.61)	10 (11.24)	1.2 (0.04–1.3)	<0.05
Smoking
Yes	18 (10.59)	7 (4.12)	1.00	0.027
No	152 (89.41)	163 (95.88)	0.17 (0.14–0.89)
Dietary patterns
Frequency of eating fruits
Daily	37 (21.76)	45 (26.47)	1.00
5-6 days/week	10 (5.88)	43 (25.29)	0.08 (0.02–0.63)	0.002
1–4 days/week	123 (72.35)	82 (48.24)	1.82 (1.08–3.05)	0.023
Frequency of eating vegetables
Daily	108 (64.12)	112 (65.88)	1.00
5-6 days/week	19 (11.18)	33 (19.41)	0.59 (0.31–1.10)	0.099
1–4 days/week	42 (24.71)	25 (14.71)	1.72 (0.98–3.02)	0.056
Frequency of eating red meat
Daily	113 (66.47)	78 (45.88)	1.00
3 times/week	44 (25.88)	63 (37.06)	0.48 (0.29–0.78)	0.003
Weekly	11 (6.47)	27 (15.88)	0.28 (0.13–0.60)	0.001
Monthly	2 (1.18)	2 (1.18)	0.69 (0.09–5.0)	0.714

Values adjusted for age, gender, and educational level.