ABSTRACT
Background: Men in the 25–54 year age group form the major workforce in developing countries like India. The rising trend of hypertension in this age group is a growing matter of concern. Objectives: This study analyzed secondary data analysis from the National Family Health Survey‑4. Methods: Men in the 25–54 age group (n = 76,410) from 640 districts of the country were included in the study. State and district‑wise trends in hypertension in men along with selected individual lifestyle characteristics were displayed using a geographic information system. Results: The prevalence of hypertension among men in the age group of 25–54 was found to be 35.6% for the entire country. In urban India, the prevalence of hypertension was 38.4% (uncorrected ‑ 40.2%) compared with 33.8% (uncorrected ‑ 34.9%) in rural India. Among the 27,973 hypertensives, 6984 (25%) were the known hypertensives prior to the survey. Out of these only 2403 (34.4%) were taking medicines. The prevalence of tobacco use in any form among the men in this age group was 45.7% (uncorrected ‑ 49%). Conclusion: In conclusion, the study highlights the burden of hypertension in men in the prime age group along with the alarming burden of tobacco consumption and recommends public health and policy interventions targeting both hypertension and tobacco control. It requires urgent attention and specialized strategies in tiding over this epidemic brewing in the workforce of the country
ABSTRACT
Background: Nonadherence to treatment is a challenge in managing the increasing burden of chronic noncommunicable diseases in India. The issue is not limited only to people having limited access to health-care services, but for a variety of reasons, a typical pattern of nonadherence is being seen. Objective: The objective was to assess the compliance and to find out the reasons of noncompliance to treatment of diabetes/hypertension among previously diagnosed patients from urban slums. Methods: This is a community-based, cross-sectional study conducted during October 2017–February 2018 in urban slums of Belapur, Navi Mumbai, selecting all cases of diabetes and hypertension diagnosed for >1 year by house-to-house survey, covering a population of 4125. A structured and pretested questionnaire including sociodemographic details, treatment details, and compliance pattern was administered. Results: The study included 208 individuals, of which 164 were under treatment for hypertension and 85 for diabetes. All the patients revealed discontinuation of medication for a significant period at some point since diagnosis. The most common reasons of noncompliance were lack of money (50.58% patients with diabetes, 73.78% patients with hypertension) and difficulty to remember to take daily medication due to work or forgetfulness (49.41% patients with diabetes, 26.21% patients with hypertension). Only 56.5% of patients with diabetes and 64.6% of patients with hypertension were aware that discontinuation of treatment can cause complications, whereas 95.3% of patients with diabetes and 99.4% of patients with hypertension feel that remembering medication at work is difficult. Conclusions: As the nonadherence is too high, there is an urgent need of attention to this aspect, and remedial measures such as proper counseling to the patient, involvement of family members, and use of low-cost drugs for treatment should be sought.
ABSTRACT
The causes of low birth weight (LBW) are multifactoral with genetic, placental, fetal and maternal factors interplaying with each other. To assess the influence of some of the maternal bio-social factors on the variance of birth weight, this study was undertaken. A total of 984 consecutive live births delivered at an urban hospital were analysed. The rate of LBW was 28.3% and preterms accounted for 3.2%. A strong correlation existed between birth weight and maternal height, weight, age, ANC visits and risk status at pregnancy. A short, malnourished, young, unregistered or primiparous mother was associated with a higher rate of LBW. On multiple regression analysis it was noted that maternal weight, parity and ANC visits independently affected the birthweight of the new born. Therefore emphasis needs to be given to maternal biosocial factors which are amenable to improvement to reduce the incidence of LBW. This can be done by selectively targeting interventions to improve nutrition, and curtailing parity and promoting contraception.