Prevalence of Hypertension and Its Risk Factors Among Malaysian Senior Military Officers

Abstract

Introduction: Hypertension can have serious occupational implications for a military officer, especially for those who have specialised training and has become an essential asset to the organisation. Objective:The study aims to investigate the prevalence of hypertension among senior military officers of the Malaysian Armed Forces and determine the associated factors. We reviewed medical records of senior officers who underwent a routine medical examination at the Military Medicine Department, Kuala Lumpur Armed Forces Hospital from January 2018 to December 2018. Results: Out of 625 officers, the majority were from the army (61.2%), followed by the navy (19.8%) and air force (19.0%). The mean age of the officers was 47.4 (SD 6.3) years, and 94.1% were male officers. The prevalence of hypertension was 8.8% (55 officers). The results showed that hypertension was significantly associated with high BP (BMI) (p = 0.018), increased fasting blood sugar (FBS) (p < 0.001), high serum uric acid (p = 0.005), and elevated serum creatinine (p < 0.001). Moreover, none of the military factors, i.e. type of services, rank, and type of responsibility, were associated with hypertension. The ordinal logistic regression analysis showed that age [Odds ratio (OR) = 1.05], BMI (OR = 1.11), and elevated FBS (OR = 1.36) were significant predictors for the higher BP group. Conclusion: The prevalence of hypertension in the senior military officer is lower compared to the general population. However, the senior officers shared similar risk factors with the general population.