Background: Every fourth person on the earth is hypertensive. Hypertension is the third killer disease in the list of all age mortality. Elevated blood pressure and tobacco consumption have been the top two causes of preventable mortality worldwide. Females in the reproductive age carry a higher health impact for self and their offspring when exposed to one or both of these risks.
Aim: The aim of the study is to assess the sociocultural
determinants of hypertension and tobacco usage.
Methods: An in-depth assessment of the sociocultural
determinants of hypertension and tobacco usage in an aspirational Indian state
like Odisha is carried out through secondary analysis of the National Family
Health Survey-IV (NFHS-4) dataset. Data from 30,587 women aged between 15 and 49
years were extrapolated for analysis through frequency, percentage and logistic
regression models to determine the predictors of tobacco use and hypertension
and to correlate the two in the study population. Data were analyzed using SPSS
software version 21.
Results: In Odisha, 12.8% of adult women were addicted to
tobacco, mostly in smokeless form (93.3%). High blood pressure was recorded in
7.3% of the respondents females. The
mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings in the hypertensive group
were 154.53 (±SD 24.254) and 96.66 (±S.D 16.554) mmHg respectively. Increasing
age, urban residence, extremes of wealth index, ever-married status, obesity,
diabetes, and tobacco usage (more for smokeless) were the predictors of
hypertension. Education, caste and occupation had no significant associations.
The present study reports tobacco abuse to be a significant (1.8-fold)
determinant of hypertension in adult females even after adjustment of other
confounders.
Conclusion: The combination of multiple risk factors—such as
residence, wealth status, marital status, age, and caste—contributes to both
tobacco use and hypertension in adult females of reproductive age. Health
policies and planning need to be prioritized towards a targeted approach
instead of a ‘one size fits all’ approach followed to date so far as prevention
and control of risk factors of tobacco usage and non-communicable diseases like
hypertension are concerned. Targeted interventions involving gender, marital
status, obesity, residence and other socio-economic profiles may be adopted for
risk reduction of non-communicable diseases like hypertension in
reproductive-age females.
Author (s) Details
Sushree Priyadarsini
Satapathy
Department of Community Medicine, VSS Institute of Medical Science and
Research, Burla, India.
Smita Kumari Panda
Department of Community Medicine, VSS Institute of Medical Science and
Research, Burla, India.
Prakash Chandra Panda
Department of Paediatrics, VSS Institute of Medical Science and Research,
Burla, India.
Kulwant Lakra
Department of Community Medicine, VSS Institute of Medical Science and
Research, Burla, India.
Sadhu Charan Panda
Department of Community Medicine, VSS Institute of Medical Science and
Research, Burla, India.
Priyanka Dhawan
Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, PGIMER,
Chandigarh, India.
Sonu Goel
Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, PGIMER,
Chandigarh, India, Public Health
Master’s Program, School of Medicine and Health Research Institute (HRI),
University of Limerick, Ireland and Faculty of Human and Health Sciences,
Swansea University, UK.
Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/dhrd/v3/3656
