Introduction: Hypertension is an important cause of stroke, heart and kidney disease and these diseases are the cause for about two-thirds of all mortalities around the world.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence, awareness and risk factors of hypertension in Ahvaz, southwest of Iran.

Patients and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 944 participants older than 20 years were enrolled. Systolic blood pressure (BP) =140 mm Hg, diastolic BP =90 mm Hg or the use of antihypertensive medication was considered as hypertension. Systolic BP = 140-159 mm Hg or diastolic BP = 90-99 mm Hg were defined as stage 1, and systolic BP =160 mm Hg or diastolic BP =100 mm Hg were considered as stage 2 of hypertension. Systolic BP = 120-139 mm Hg and diastolic BP= 80-89 mm Hg were considered as prehypertensive state.

Results: The prevalence of hypertension in Ahvaz was 17.58% (95% CI: 15.28-20.14) (males; 45.8%, females; 54.2%). Age-adjusted prevalence of hypertension was 8.6%; age- and sex-adjusted prevalence of hypertension was 3.7%. Seventy-two cases (7.7%) were prehypertensive. The frequency of stage 1 hypertension was 10.8% and stage 2 was 5.7%. Among them, 53.6% were not aware of their disease and 22% of hypertensive cases were controlled. Logistic regression analysis showed that age, metabolic syndrome and family history of hypertension had significant relationship with hypertension.

Conclusion: This study showed that, age, metabolic syndrome and family history of disease are risk factors of hypertension in Ahvaz population. About half of patients were unaware of their disease and about 20% had controlled BP.