Saadia Ashraf, Mukhtiar Zaman, Amber Ashraf.
The prevalence of Hypertension among the population exposed to air and noise pollution.
Pak J Chest Med Jan ;10(1):23-7.

The Aim of this study was to determine the effects of different types of air and noise pollution on human health. A random sample of 331 Brick Kiln workers (BK cohort) from the rural areas and residents exposed to traffic air pollution (TR cohort) from the urban area of Peshawar city were invited to participate in the study. The two cohorts were administered a questionnaire to elicit information on demographics, health histories, followed by clinical examination and investigations. The data of age 20 and above, a total of 223, 33 females and 190 males, was analyzed for the prevalence of hypertension, defined either having Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) of 140 mmHg or more or/and Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP) of 90mm Hg or more. In the BK cohort there were 7/112(6.25%) individuals suffering from hypertension and in the TR cohort there were 19/111(17%) individuals suffering from hypertension among them 12/94(12.7%) were male and 7/17(41.2%) were female. In conclusion the prevalence of hypertension is higher in the TR cohort in all age groups compared to the BK cohort. The difference could be due to the difference in the level of air pollution, geographic location and life style.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com