Prevalence of hypertension and its correlates among adult population living in an urban area of West Bengal.

Introduction: Non-communicable diseases (NCD) are the leading cause of adult mortality and morbidity worldwide now days. The NCD like hypertension is emerging as a major health problem in India with increasing prevalence significantly in both urban and rural population. Hence, an investigation was undertaken to find out prevalence of hypertension and its correlates among adult population living in an urban area of West Bengal. Methodology: This community based cross sectional study was conducted in Tangra area of Kolkata. A sample of 100 (45-59 years) individuals was selected by the standard random sampling technique. Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression were employed using SPSS software package. Results: The overall prevalence of hypertension was 32% and higher among participants of occupation employed/business (22%), regular alcoholic (14%), high BMI (16%). While in the bivariate analysis many of the factors correlate with hypertension, occupation, family history and body-mass index, remained significant in the multivariate analysis. Conclusions: The prevalence of hypertension in the study population was found to be on the higher side compared to previous reports from India. Strong public health measures need to be seriously implemented to combat hypertension and its consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]