Factors Associated with Hypertension in the Selected Community

Introduction: Non-communicable disease causes over 36 million deaths globally each year. And among the NCD deaths, over 82% of premature deaths occur in underdeveloped and developing countries. Some of the non-communicable diseases like hypertension, diabetes and asthma are emerging as major health problems in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has given high priority to research these particular diseases. But although there are many global studies regarding the risk factors of hypertension, not much research has been done regarding the increasing risk of hypertension in rural areas. This study aims to determine the correlation of various factors with hypertension among the population of a rural locality. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the rural area of Dumki upazilla of Patuakhali district. Sample population was selected following simple random sampling technique. Socio-demographic information, information about smoking, family history of hypertension status were collected using a pre-prepared questionnaire. Blood pressure, body weight and height of 255 individuals between the age range of 40-90 years of both sexes were measured and collected. Result: Among the participants, 98 were male and 157 were female. The mean age of the participants was 45.28 years, and mean weight was 56.27 kg. 40% of the participants were aged between 41-50 years and 38.04% were aged between 51-60 years. Among the participants, majority were educated, and only 16.47% were illiterate. Majority of the participants (39.61%) were housewives, and 10.98% were service holders. Only 7.45% of the participants were unemployed. The biggest risk factor in the present study participants was excessive salt intake, present in 64.84% of the participants. This was closely followed by family history of hypertension, present in 61.18% of the participants. High BMI was also present in 48.63% of the participants. Conclusion: Increased BMI and high blood pressure are high risk factors for hypertension. Hypertension was observed to occur more in the female population, and the risk of hypertension increased with age. Excessive salt intake and smoking, Jarda consumption and tobacco chewing are also some risk factors observed in this particular rural study.