Smoking as a Major Risk for Elderly Hypertension in The Covid-19 pandemic: A case-control Study

ntroduction: Hypertension is a non-communicable disease that is an important public health problem in the world because its prevalence continues to increase and is the third biggest risk of premature death. Lifestyle is the most important risk factor that can cause hypertension, including physical activity, diet, smoking behavior, rest patterns. The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of lifestyle on the incidence of hypertension in the elderly during the Covid-19 pandemic era. Materials and Methods: The research design uses a quantitative case-control design approach. A sample of 88 respondents consisted of 48 cases and 40 controls. Sampling method using accidental sampling technique, the instrument used is a questionnaire, data collection method using interviews, data analysis using chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression. Result: The results showed that there was a significant effect between physical activity (p-value 0.047), diet (p-value 0.012), smoking behavior with the incidence of hypertension (p-value 0.001), and there was no effect of rest patterns with the incidence of hypertension (p-value 0.001). p-value 0.334). Multivariate analysis found that smoking was the most influential factor with the incidence of hypertension (OR=6,647), meaning that respondents who had smoking behavior had a 7 times greater risk of suffering from hypertension than respondents who did not smoke. Conclusion: There is a significant influence between physical activity, diet, and smoking behavior with the incidence of hypertension and there is no effect of rest patterns with the incidence of hypertension. Smoking behavior is the most influential factor in the incidence of hypertension.