Nkosi, VusumuziShirinde, JoyceRathogwa-Takalani, FunzaniVoyi, K.V.V. (Kuku)2022-10-192022-10-192021Nkosi, V., Shirinde, J., Rathogwa-Takalani, F. et al. 2021, 'High blood pressure and exposure to dust from gold mine dumps among the elderly in South Africa : a cross-sectional study', Public Health in Practice, vol. 2, pp. 1-5.2666-535210.1016/j.puhip.2021.100146https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/87811OBJECTIVE : To investigate whether high blood pressure was associated with living close to a mine dump among the elderly in South Africa. STUDY DESIGN : This was a cross-sectional study conducted among the elderly in communities 1–2 km (exposed) and 5 km or more (unexposed), from five pre-selected mine dumps in Gauteng and North West provinces of South Africa. METHODS : Structured interviews were conducted with 2397 elderly, using a previously validated ATS-DLD-78 questionnaire from the British Medical Research Council. RESULTS : The prevalence of high blood pressure was 57.51% in the exposed and 46.66% in the unexposed communities, respectively. Results from the multiple logistic regression analysis showed that having high blood pressure was significantly associated with living in exposed communities (AOR = 3.04, 95% CI: 2.41–3.83, P < 0.001). Other significant risk factors were being an previous and current tobacco smoker, age group, tertiary level of educational attainment, and having a history of occupational exposure to dust and chemical fumes. CONCLUSION : The findings of this study suggest that there are high levels of blood pressure among the elderly residing in communities located near mine dumps in South Africa.en© 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Royal Society for Public Health. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license.High blood pressureElderlyMine dumpsSouth AfricaSouth Africa (SA)Article