Abstract 20045: One in Six South Asian Adults Develop Hypertension Over a Two Year Period: Results From the CARRS Cohort Study

Introduction: Hypertension is a growing public health problem in South Asia. We examined hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control rates in adult participants at baseline in the CARRS cohort from three large cities in South Asia and report both incidence and predictors of incident hypertension using the longitudinal follow-up data. Methods: The CARRS Study recruited representative population cohorts of three metropolitan urban cities namely Chennai, Delhi and Karachi. Trained field workers collected socio-demographic and risk factor data from all eligible participants using a structured questionnaire, standardized equipment and a common study protocol. All the participants recruited at baseline were followed-up annually. Fasting blood samples were also collected at baseline and at two year follow-up for biochemical analyses of lipids, glucose and haemoglobin A1c. Blood pressure was recorded at baseline and during annual follow-up visits in the sitting position using electronic sphygmomano...