Abstract: Objective The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of hypertension and try to find the risk factors in the urban and rural area of Beijing. Methods A cluster sampling was used to establish a study population of inhabitants aged 40 to 60. 3268 middle-aged participants were enrolled in the investigation. The definition of hypertension was determined by National Revision Committee of the Guidelines of Hypertension Prevention and Control in 2005. Logistic regression model was used to find the risk factors of hypertension. Results In total population of this study, the prevalence in urban area was significantly lower than in rural area (55.58% vs 42.91%, P<0.05). In urban area, the prevalence of hypertension in male and female were 49.54% and 38.52% which were significantly lower than the prevalence in rural area 57.68% and 54.17%.(all P<0.05). Multivariate logistic analysis revealed that age, BMI, waist, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting blood glucose and education were the risk factors of hypertension in male, which, age, BMI, waist, occupation and triglyceride were the risk factors of hypertension in female. Conclusion The data indicated that the prevalence of hypertension in rural area maybe have higher than in urban in developed area of our country. The most important risk factors are BMI and waist.

Key words: hypertension, prevalence, Logistic regression, cluster sampling, urban and rural