Objectives: Hypertension is an important public health challenge in the developing and the developed world alike. However, community-based studies on cardiovascular diseases including hypertension in a developing country like Nepal have been limited. The primary aim of this study is to measure the prevalence of hypertension in the Dharan town of Eastern Nepal and to explore the ‘iceberg phenomenon’ of hypertension in the study population.

Methods: A population-based cross-sectional analytical study was undertaken in the Dharan municipality in 2004-5 with one thousand males aged 35 years and above as participants. The subjects were recruited by simple random sampling of the households in each ward.

Results: The overall prevalence of hypertension in the study population was 22.7% which was comparable to the studies from Northern and Western India. The comparison between the population with normal and high blood pressure at time of study shows significant differences in terms of age, religion, current job status, occupation, socioeconomic status, physical activity and tobacco use.

Conclusion: The study shows that while a vast majority of the hypertensive population was not aware of their high blood pressure status, at the same time, a large fraction of the population with increased blood pressure did not have their blood pressure under control. A surveillance system to detect population with high blood pressure, follow up the detected cases of hypertension, as well as motivate and/or counsel the ‘hard-to-treat’ cases for regular follow-up should be valuable.