일부 농촌주민의 혈압과 사회적 지지도와의 관련성

Association of Blood Pressure with the Social Support of Some Rural Residents

Objectives : This study was peformed to assess the association between the social support and blood pressure(BP) in a rural community. Methods : A cross-sectional survey, comprising a health examination including BP, height and weight and a questionnaire-based interview which investigated social support, demographic factors, smoking, drinking, and etc. was peformed between February 10th and March 5th, 1998. The survey included 318 persons who were over than 30-year-old in the rural community of Kwangju, Republic of Korea. We excluded persons who taking antihypertensive medications or who provided incomplete information; we subsequently analyzed the data from 284 persons. In order to test the hypothesis of an association between BP and social support controlling confounders such as age, educational level, working time, body mass index, smoking and drinking, the data was analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis. Results : The subjects were composed of 109(38.4%) males and 175(61.6%) females with mean ages of 62.0 years and 61.1 years, respectively. The hypertension prevalence was 41.3% among males and 45.1% among females. In the correlation analysis, higher total social support scores correlated significantly with lower systolic BP in both males and females. The hypertension prevalence increased significantly with the decreasing of the social support in males. In multiple regression analysis, systolic and diastolic blood pressure showed a negative association with social support in both males and females, although this was not statistically significant. Conclusions : Larger and broader studies are required in the future in order to identify the association between the social support and BP.