ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Tuberc.
Sec. Epidemiology of Tuberculosis
Volume 3 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/ftubr.2025.1548843
Prevalence and risk factors of high blood pressure among persons assessed for TB at three health facilities in Lusaka, Zambia
Provisionally accepted
- Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
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Low-and middle-income countries are experiencing a rapidly increasing burden of non-communicable diseases, additionally straining health systems battling with high prevalence of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis (TB). This study set out to describe the prevalence of a high blood pressure (HBP) and identify factors associated with high BP among persons with presumed and diagnosed TB patients in a high TB burden setting.We conducted secondary analysis of data from a cross-sectional study that enrolled consecutive persons with presumed TB and those at high risk for TB, aged ≥18 years old, between November 2021 and December 2022 in Lusaka, Zambia. We defined a high blood pressure (HBP) reading as any systolic ≥140 mmHg and/or diastolic ≥90 mmHg. Descriptive statistics were employed to summarise participant demographic and clinical characteristics while logistical regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with HBP.Of 2431 participants, 541 (26.9%) had HBP and 290 (11.9%) had bacteriologically confirmed TB. Among those with HBP, 51/541 (7.8%) had TB. Overall, 1,305 (53.6%) were female, median age was 35 years (IQR=27-45), 899 (36.9%) were living with HIV, 383 (15.7%) were overweight, and 209 (8.6%) were obese. We noted a history of tobacco use among 718 (29.5%), and 1078 (44.3%) reported alcohol use during the past year. The odds of a high BP increased with ages [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54] and over 55 (aOR=4.30, alcohol use (aOR=1.40, and BMI over 30 (aOR=1.64,. Conversely, participants with bacteriologically confirmed TB (aOR=0.63,) had lower odds of HBP. Over 1 in 4 persons assessed for TB had HBP on initial reading. Higher BMI, alcohol use and older age were associated with increased HBP prevalence. These results provide valuable baseline data to inform strategies for integrated TB and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including HBP screening in similar settings.
Keywords: Tuberculosis1, hypertension2, Raised blood pressure3, Integrated Service Delivery4, Non-communicable diseases5
Received: 20 Dec 2024; Accepted: 16 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Muzazu, Siameka, Sanjase, Shuma, Kagujje and Muyoyeta. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Seke G.Y. Muzazu, Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
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