Introduction: Hypertension (HTN) is one of the common non– communicable disease which has become an important public health problem worldwide. Hypertension being an iceberg  disease, majority of the person remain unaware, undiagnosed or untreated. There is increasing evidence that alcohol initiates central as well as peripheral reactions which in a synergistic manner have a hypertensive action. In addition, alcohol induces an increased sympathetic outflow, most probably linked to secretion of corticotrophin releasing hormone.Some investigators have suggested that the association between alcohol and hypertension is related to the temporal sequence of alcohol use and blood pressure measurement. According to the NFHS 4 data the prevalence of hypertension among females and  males in Assam are Slightly above normal (140–159/90–99) :11.7%; Moderate hypertensive (160–179/100–109): 3%;  very high (>= 180/>= 110) : 1.3% & Slightly normal :15%, moderate :3.1%; Very high : 1.5% respectively. The prevalence of alcohol consumption among males  and females in the state of Assam according to NFHS 4 data are 35.6% and 6.9% respectively.

The present study was conducted with the following objectives:

 1) To assess the prevalence of hypertension and alcohol consumption among the rural adult population of Kamrup district, Assam.

 2) To assess alcohol  consumption as a risk factor for hypertension

Methodology: A community based cross sectional study was conducted in the rural area of Kamrup district, Assam for a Period of one year (August 2015– July 2016). Adults aged 30 years and above is included in the study after taking informed consent, who have no acute illness and who were not pregnant. Subjects were interviewed using pre designed pre tested proforma. A total of 870 respondents were interviewed from 12 randomly selected villages. Ethical clearance obtained from Institutional Ethics Committee. Data presented in the form of table, bar diagram & pie diagram. Data analysis done by using INSTAT GRAPH PAD, and a p value of < 0.05 is taken as significant. Results: The study shows, majority, 252 (28.96%) respondents were normotensive, followed by 240 (27.58%) were pre hypertensives, and least number of respondents i.e 180 ( 20.68%) were hypertensive with stage 2. Among the respondents life time alcohol abstainers were 26.9% and 73.1% were alcohol users. . The prevalence of hypertension was highest ,59.09%% among the current drinkers  , followed by 47.5% among the former drinkers and least,12.82% among the life time abstainers. The association of alcohol consumption and hypertension is statistically significant.   Among the current alcohol consumers, 37.12% of the respondents drinks daily. The prevalence of hypertension was highest, 71.42% among those who consume daily, followed by 67.96% among those consuming 1–5 days/ week. The association of hypertension and frequency of alcohol consumption is statistically significant.