Epidemiological aspects of interaction between social factors and the risk of hypertension for the native inhabitants of the Altai Republic (Tubalar people)

Objectives of the study were 1) to elucidate the prevalence of arterial hypertension among the residents of the Turochaksky district (Altai Republic, Russia) according to gender and ethnicity and 2) to estimate the impact of the sociodemographic factors (professional status, wealth, education, and marital status) on the risk for developing hypertension. The countryside population including 1041 indigenous Tubalar people was examined in a framework of the program called "Altai: Human Ecology in the Environmentally Disturbed Intermountain Areas of the Siberian Middle Mountain Region with the Adverse Life and Working Conditions". Tubalar people are engaged in hunting, cattlebreeding and gathering. Lower prevalence of arterial hypertension was found in the Tubalar people in comparison with the nonresidents. Independent of ethnicity, increased rate of arterial hypertension was associated with low income, bluecollar job, elementary education level, and divorce for men.