Non communicable diseases: The silent killer immerged largely in the present time, a cross sectional study on risk factors in Dhaka city

Abstract

Background: The risk factors of Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are not routinely monitored, especially among populace reporting to hospitals to detect and also advise on preventive measures, a key strategy to reducing the impact of NCDs on the Health Care System and population. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out between the months of August and November, 2015 among a sample representative of the medical and surgical out-patients population to determine the prevalence of certain risk factors of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Participants (n = 230) were selected by systematic random sampling. Standardized international protocols were used to measure the prevalence of smoking, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, obesity, raised blood pressure, raised blood glucose and total cholesterol. Results: The obesity level of the study population was 31.3% with 25% being overweight. Tobacco use among the respondents was 54.7%. Alcohol consumption was 3.48%, with 37.4% of the study population being physically inactive. Almost 38.2% and 70.9% of the participants consumed fruits and vegetables respectively, at least three days in a week. The prevalence of hypertension was 34.4% for men and 49.5% for women. The prevalence of raised glucose and total blood cholesterol level among the study population was 42.17% and 22.6% respectively. Almost 62% of the participants had a combination of three or more risk factors. Conclusion: The prevalence of the significant risk factors in this study were physical inactivity (37.4%), alcohol consumption (64.8%), overweight (31.3%), obesity (25%) and raised blood pressure (34.4%). Hospitals should therefore include NCD risk factor monitoring as part of routine services.