Prevalence of Hypertension and its Associated Risk Factors among People Living in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand.

Background:India is in a state of epidemiological, economic, demographic and nutrition transition. And all these transitions are leading to non communicable diseases. Hypertension is a major public health problem and important area of research due to its high prevalence and being major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and other complications.Objectives: To find out the prevalence of hypertension and its associated risk factors among people living in study area.Methodology: It is a community based cross sectional study conducted among people living in Barrage colony of Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. House to house survey was conducted for 3 months from December 2018 to February 2019 in all the four blocks (A,B,C,D) of Barrage colony, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, to make a sample size of 955. Both male and female age of 15 years and above was included in the study.Results:The prevalence of hypertension among study participants was 10.4%. Prevalence of hypertension was found more in male subjects (12.6%) as compared to females subjects (6.9%).The risk factors found to be significantly associated with HTN in this study were increasing age, male gender, central obesity (high WHR), diabetes, smoking, alcohol, sedentary lifestyle and excess salt intake.Conclusion: There is significant burden of hypertension in Barrage colony, Rishikesh. Strong public health measures need to be seriously implemented to combat hypertension and its consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]