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Sex differences in the risk profile of hypertension: a cross-sectional study. OBJECTIVE: To assess the socioeconomic and behavioural risk factors associated with hypertension among a sample male and female population in India. SETTING: Cross-sectional survey data from a Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) of rural West Bengal, India was used. PARTICIPANTS: 27 589 adult individuals (13 994 males and 13 595 females), aged ≥18 years, were included in the study. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Hypertension was defined as mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) ≥140 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) ≥90 mm Hg, or if the subject was undergoing regular antihypertensive therapy. Prehypertension was defined as SBP 120-139 mm Hg and DBP 80-89 mm Hg. Individuals were categorised as non-normotensives, which includes both the prehypertensives and hypertensives. Generalised ordered logit model (GOLM) was deployed to fulfil the study objective. RESULTS: Over 39% of the men and 25% of the women were prehypertensives. Almost 12.5% of the men and 11.3% of the women were diagnosed as hypertensives. Women were less likely to be non-normotensive compared to males. Odds ratios estimated from GOLM indicate that women were less likely to be hypertensive or prehypertensive, and age (OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.05; and OR 1.08, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.09 for males and females, respectively) and body mass index (OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.38 to 1.97 for males; and OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.60 for females) are associated with hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: An elevated level of hypertension exists among a select group of the rural Indian population. Focusing on men, an intervention could be designed for lifestyle modification to curb the prevalence of hypertension.