الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
There has an increasing interest in the study of blood pressure in adults. Hypertension is responsible for at least 45% of deaths due to heart disease and 51% of deaths due to stroke. The prevalence of raised blood pressure in low, lower-middle and upper-middle income countries is higher (40%) than in high-income countries (35%).
This study was conducted to fulfill the following aims:
1. To describe the blood pressure pattern among medical personnel.
2. To estimate the prevalence of hypertension among medical personnel.
3. To determine the epidemiologic factors that could be associated with hypertension.
The study was conducted using the following methodology:
The study was carried out using a cross sectional approach. A stratified random sample of 500 medical personnel was selected by proportional allocation from two general hospitals in Tobruk. A frame was constructed for the medical personnel (physicians, nurses, dentists, pharmacists and technicians) in Tobruk Medical Hospital and Gaghaboub general hospital and the sample was selected by the systematic random technique.
Data were collected using the following tools:
1- A questionnaire interview was designed by the researcher and was used to collect data on sociodemographic characteristics, personal and family history of chronic diseases and life style
2- Measurements including weight, height and body mass index (BMI) and pulse
The collected data were revised, coded, and analyzed using SPSS version 21, 2014 software for tabulation and analysis. ROC curve analysis was also used to study the diagnostic performance of systolic BP, diastolic BP, mean BP, and pulse BP for diagnosis hypertension and discriminate hypertensive from normotensive groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess predictors of hypertension
The study revealed the following main results:
1. The prevalence of hypertension among medical personnel in Tobruk was (16.6%), (17.6%) were males and (16%) of females with no statistical significant difference.
2. Systolic blood pressure was skewed to the right and with a heavy tailed distribution. On the other hand diastolic blood pressure was skewed to the left and with also a heavy tailed distribution.
3. The Area under the ROC curve (AUC) of systolic, diastolic, mean and pulse blood pressures have an ability to distinguish between the hypertensive and normotensive groups. Pulse pressure had the highest excellent discrimination for hypertension (AUC, .977).
4. There was a statistical significant difference between males and females regarding systolic BP, diastolic BP, mean BP, and pulse BP.
5. About half of medical personnel aged 40 years and above had hypertension compared to only (8.0%) of personnel below 30 years of age with a statistical significant difference.
6. About half of medical personnel who were divorced and widow had hypertension compared to only (8.1%) of personnel who were single. with a significant difference.
7. More than one third of medical personnel with diploma had hypertension compared to only (8.7%) of personnel with BSc with a statistical significant difference. .
8. About one fifth(19%) of medical personnel who were nurses had hypertension compared to (12.1%) pharmacist. There was no statistical significant difference.
9. More than half (54.4%) of medical personnel with 20 years & more of experience had hypertension compared to (20.4%) of personnel with 10- 19 years and (9%) with <10 years of experience with a statistical significant difference.
10. More than one fifth (21.1%) of medical personnel who consumed high salty food had hypertension compared to (16.0%) of low consumption with no statistical significant difference
11. About one third (29.4%) of medical personnel with high saturated fat consumption had hypertension compared to (18.9%) of personnel with low and (13.7%) with intermediate saturated fat consumption. No statistical significant was observed.
12. About one fifth (19.2%) of medical personnel were drinking coffee had hypertension compared to (12.8%) of personnel were not drinking coffee. with no statistical significant difference.
13. More than two thirds (68.8%) of medical personnel with history of chronic diseases had hypertension compared to only (14.9%) of personnel without history with a statistical significant difference
14. Medical personnel with family history of hypertension had more than two and half times risk of hypertension compared to personnel without family history with a statistical significant difference.
15. More than one fourth (26.4%) of medical personnel with family history of obesity had hypertension compared to (14.4%) of personnel without family history of obesity with statistical significant difference.
16. Medical personnel who had no family stability had about two and half times hypertension as compared to those with family stability. This difference is significant.
17. Medical personnel who were working one shift had about three times hypertension compared to personnel working full day with a significant difference.
18. More than one fourth (26.2%) of medical personnel with low fatigue had hypertension compared to (17.2%) of personnel with intermediate and (15%) with high fatigue with no statistical significant difference.
19. Medical personnel who were of low vacation day had more than one and half times increased risk hypertension of hypertension compared to personnel who were high with statistical significant difference.
20. Obese medical Personnel had more than thirteen times the risk of developing hypertension compared to non-obese personnel with statistical significant difference.
21. Medical personnel with insufficient income had about two times increase risk of hypertension compared to personnel with sufficient income with a significant difference regarding income among the medical personnel.
22. Medical personnel who were of sedentary and light physical activity had about three times hypertension compared to personnel with heavy activity.
23. About one fourth (23.8%) of medical personnel who were drinking tea had hypertension compared to (8.5%) of personnel who were not drinking tea.
24. Logistic regression analysis shows that medical personnel who were 40 years and above, obese, with insufficient income, those who drink tea and who were less physically active had an increased risk of hypertension than relevant categories. The variables in the model had an 81.3% discrimination power for normal blood pressure. Scoring system for predicting hypertension built on independent risk factors found on the logistic regression analysis shows that the Odds ratios of predicting hypertension was 2.764, 4.978, 7.319 and 44.950 for medical personnel having one, two, three and four & above risk factors respectively compared medical personnel without risk factors.
Therefore, the following is recommended:
1. Effective educational programs in the curriculum and training courses for the medical personnel that should cover the basic and details of hypertension
2. Increasing knowledge of the medical personnel about consequences of high blood pressure as well as methods for its prevention and control in order to encourage self-referral.
3. Special health care facilities for staff workers in each hospitals is recommended and application of screening programs for early detection of hypertension at regular intervals particularly among medical personnel with more than 10 years of employment and those working in the shift systems.
4. Life style measures should be instituted to all medical personnel with raised cardiovascular risk and hypertension. The measures which have been shown to lower blood pressure include: weight reduction, increased physical activity and moderation of dietary sodium.
5. Reducing stress and job strain which are reasons for high blood pressure.