Abstract
Hypertension is a major public health concern worldwide; while most studies describe hypertension in older adults, there is scarce data on prehypertension in young. The aim of highlighting this new category of "prehypertension" is to raise public awareness about the cardiovascular risk associated with blood pressure in this range and the importance of taking preventive action. Also, it is to determine the frequency of prehypertension among undergraduate nursing students and the association between demographic factors and psychological factors with prehypertension. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018 among undergraduate nursing students of private health colleges. A convenience sample of 282 students participated in this study. The Arabic version of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 elicited depression, anxiety, and stress levels. Blood pressures were measured twice using a sphygmomanometer, and the averages were taken. Data analyses used descriptive and inferential statistics. Out of the total number of 282 participants included in this study, 7.5% (19.6% male; 5.1% female) have a systolic pressure of ≥130 mmHg, and 6.7% (10.9% male; 5.9% female) have a diastolic pressure of ≥85 mmHg. Significant gender differences were detected regarding employment status, smoking, study year, depression, stress, and systolic pressure (p<.05). Results showed significant anthropometric differences in systolic and diastolic pressure (p<.001), higher in elevated than normal. The level of depression was significantly associated with systolic prehypertension, while the level of stress was significantly different for diastolic prehypertension (p<.05). The prevalence rate of prehypertension and hypertension was quite high in the present study. Early identification of pre-hypertensive individuals and early intervention by implementing a healthier lifestyle have been discovered to slow the development of hypertension.