ABSTRACT

 Prevalence of hypertension in the world varies widely and has increased significantly over the years in developing countries of the world such as Nigeria. Low compliance to medical and nutrition care is an inherent problem in the treatment of chronic conditions such as hypertension. Hence, this study aimed to determine the prevalence, identify risk factors and dietary management of hypertensive adult population attending clinics in tertiary hospitals. Two hundred consenting adult hypertensive population attending outpatient clinic in Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, and University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar respectively, were recruited for this study using a purposive sampling technique. A semi-structured administered questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio-demographic and socio-economic characteristics, dietary recommendation and compliance to medical nutrition regimen among respondents. Anthropometry and clinical parameters were taken using standard procedures while blood pressure was categorized using the American Heart Association Guideline. Secondary data on the prevalence of hypertension in both tertiary institutions was obtained using a prestructured proforma. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, chi-square and correlation analysis. Level of significance was set at 5% using the SPSS version 22. The result showed that there were more female respondents (66.0% and 76.5%) than males (34.0% and 23.5%) in Umuahia and Calabar respectively. Less than half (45.0% and 37.5%) of the respondents from Umuahia and Calabar were aged 61 years and above. The respondents who have had hypertension for more than three years were (69.0% and 62.0%) in Umuahia and Calabar respectively. Hypertension was more prevalent in Umuahia than Calabar, however this varied largely on yearly basis. Age, sedentary lifestyle, family history of hypertension, obesity and poor adherence to medical care were identified as statistically significant (p