Risk Factors Analysis of Non-Communicable Diseases among Adults in Jhenidah

Abstract

Bangladesh is enduring rapid demographic and epidemiological transitions, with an increasing older population and a shifting disease burden from infectious, communicable diseases to chronic, non-communicable diseases (NCDs). NCDs were conveyed to represent the highest cause specific mortality burden among adults in Bangladesh. This study was done to determine the distribution and prevalence of common risk factors for major NCDs among 295 adult population of Jhenidah, Bangladesh by using a structured questionnaire. Among the respondents 41.02% were male and 58.98% were female. The highest respondents (38.98%) were found in the age range of 18 to 30 years. About 24.41% study participants were suffering from hypertension and 12.20% from Diabetes. Hypertension (34.24%), diabetes mellitus (24.75%), cancer (8.81%), smoking (54.24%) and smokeless tobacco use (44.41%) were found in the family history of the respondents. Inadequate physical activity (54.92%), low intake of fruits per day (50.51%), smokeless tobacco use (17.63%), smoking (14.58%), and low intake of vegetables per day (8.47%) were prevalent among them. According to BMI, 22.03% of the study population was overweight and 2.37% were obese whereas about 84.48% female respondents were in overweight range in respect of their waist circumference. The majority of the respondents had knowledge about the association of health problems with tobacco use, excess salt intake, physical inactivity and obesity. Majority of the respondents were advised by doctors to modify their lifestyle but most of them are less willing to follow those. At this juncture, adequate and continuous monitoring of NCD risk factors in Bangladesh is needed. Health awareness programs and guidelines related to the risk factors of NCDs might be the appropriate solution in this perimeter.