Prevalence and Co-Relates of Hypertension among Gaddi (Agro Pastoralist) Tribal's at High Altitude in North-West India

Introduction: An extensive search on PubMed reveals the paucity of data on hypertension among agro-pastoralist (Nomadic) tribal population in India. Studies among nomadic tribal's living at high altitudes provide an interesting epidemiological window to study human adaptation to changing living conditions. Materials and Methods: A total of 420 agro-pastoralist participants above the age of 20 years were evaluated for blood pressure using a stratified simple random technique in agro-pastoralist villages located at high altitude. Results: Out of a total of 420 individuals studied, 44 (males: 28; females: 16) were identified as hypertensive yielding a crude prevalence of 10.5%. The prevalence was higher in males (28/261; 10.7%) as compared to females (16/159; 10.1%). The proportion of hypertension was observed to be significantly higher among 51-60 years of age group (18.2%) as compared to other age groups (P = 0.03). Conclusions: The Gaddi (agro-pastoralist) tribal's diet-style may be the probable reason for a lower prevalence of hypertension among them.