ABC | Volume 113, Nº4, October 2019

Original Article Santiago et al. Prevalence of hypertension and associated factors Arq Bras Cardiol. 2019; 113(4):687-695 Table 2 – Distribution of systemic arterial hypertension according to behavioral characteristics in adults from the semi-arid region, state of Pernambuco, Brazil, 2015 Variables Systemic arterial hypertension p-value § n % 95%CI Alcohol intake * 0.330 Yes 26 31.7 21.9 – 42.9 No 88 26.3 21.8 – 31.5 Active smoking 0.000 Smoker or ex-smoker 54 55.7 45.2 – 65.8 Never smoked 60 18.8 14.8 – 23.6 Passive smoking † 0.000 Yes 32 47.1 34.8 – 59.6 No 82 23.6 19.3 – 28.4 Physical activity level ‡ 0.078 Sedentary or insufficiently active 61 32.4 25.8 – 39.6 Active or very active 33 44.0 32.5 – 55.9 Addition of salt to food 0.200 Never 106 28.3 23.9 – 33.3 Sometimes or almost always 8 19.0 08.6 – 34.1 95%CI: 95% confidence interval; * considering the 30 days prior to data collection; † individuals who do not actively smoke but are frequently in contact with cigarette smoke from people at home, work, or school/university; ‡ classified using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ); § Pearson’s chi-square test. Table 3 – Distribution of systemic arterial hypertension according to health and nutritional characteristics in adults from the semi-arid region, state of Pernambuco, Brazil, 2015 Variables Systemic arterial hypertension p-value** n % 95%CI BMI 0.019 Not overweight * 29 19.9 13.7 – 27.3 Overweight † 76 30.6 25.0 – 36.8 WC 0.082 Normal ‡ 29 21.8 15.1 – 29.8 Increased § 81 30.0 24.6 – 35.8 Waist-to-height ratio 0.012 Normal // 17 17.0 10.2 – 25.8 Increased ¶ 87 29.8 24.6 – 35.4 Food security # 0.245 †† Food security 35 34.0 24.9 – 44.0 Mild food insecurity 33 23.7 16.9 – 31.7 Moderate or severe food insecurity 46 26.4 20.1 – 33.6 95%CI: 95% confidence interval; BMI: body mass index; WC: waist circumference; * BMI < 25.0 kg/m²; † BMI ≥ 25.0 kg/m²; ‡ < 80 cm for women and < 94 cm for men; § ≥ 80 cm for women and ≥ 94 cm for men; // < 0.52 for men and < 0.53 for women; ¶ ≥ 0.52 for men and ≥ 0.53 for women; # classified according to the Brazilian Food and Nutritional Insecurity Scale; ** Pearson’s chi-square test; †† chi-square test for trend. The lack of associations between hypertension and alcohol intake, sedentary lifestyle, and the addition of salt to food after preparation was an unexpected finding, as these aspects are traditionally considered risk factors for the disease. 6 This paradox may be attributed to reverse causality, which consists of the repercussion of a disease positively changing the behavior of individuals, as many respondents were aware of their hypertension at the time of data collection. Another possible explanation for the lack of such associations would be the sample size, which was 691