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Prevalence and determinants of hypertension in South-Asian Urban Communities: findings from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data of South Asian countries

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 38, pages 257–266 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

Hypertension increases risk of stroke and other cardiovascular diseases, however, its prevalence and determinants in South Asian urban communities using country representative community-based datasets is lacking. This study evaluated prevalence of hypertension and it’s determinants among urban residents of three South Asian countries. Urban population data from demographic and health surveys in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal were extracted. Hypertension prevalence was defined as systolic/diastolic blood pressure \(\ge\)140/ 90 mmHg. Age, education, wealth, physical activity, alcohol, BMI were considered as risk factors associated with the increased risk of hypertension. We performed binary logistic regression and calculated adjusted Odds Ratios (AOR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) to assess factors related to hypertension. Hypertension prevalence was 37.4% in India, 25.1% in Bangladesh and 18.4% in Nepal. Prevalence increased with age in all settings. Females had reduced odds of hypertension in Bangladesh (AOR 0.75; CI: 0.69, 0.81) and Nepal (AOR 0.62; CI: 0.54, 0.71), but higher risk in India (AOR 2.54; CI: 2.45, 2.63). Low education, caffeine consumption, obesity was associated with higher prevalence of hypertension in all three countries. Smokers had increased odds of hypertension in India (AOR 1.11; CI: 1.06, 1.15) and Nepal (AOR 1.23; 1.02, 1.47). Overall, hypertension prevalence is high in all three countries. Modifiable socioeconomic and lifestyle factors (education, wealth index, smoking status, caffeine consumption and BMI) associated with hypertension. Comprehensive hypertension pacific and sensitive interventions (including behavioral modification treatments and timely screening and access to health care) are urgently needed to prevent and control hypertension among urban populations in South Asia.

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Fig. 1: Flow chart showing sample selection procedure.

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Data is freely available on the following website: https://dhsprogram.com/data/.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2600, Australia

    Ashis Talukder, Darren J. Gray, Matthew Kelly & Haribondhu Sarma

  2. Statistics Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna, 9208, Bangladesh

    Ashis Talukder, Sabiha Shirin Sara & Zahidul Islam Khan

  3. National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2600, Australia

    Uday Narayan Yadav

  4. Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW, Australia

    Uday Narayan Yadav

  5. School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Sabuj Kanti Mistry

  6. Department of Public Health, Daffodil International University, Dhaka, 1207, Bangladesh

    Sabuj Kanti Mistry

  7. ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families Over the Life Course, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Tuhin Biswas

  8. Health Nutrition, Population and Nutrition Program, BRAC, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh

    Ariful Alam

  9. Health System and Population Studies Division, icddr,b (International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research), Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh

    Md. Wazid Ali

  10. Health Systems and Population Studies Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), 68-Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani, Mohakhali, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh

    Zerin Jannat & Md. Jasim Uddin

  11. Department of Public Health & Informatics, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh

    Fariha Haseen

  12. Nutrition and Clinical Services Division, icddr,b, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh

    Tahmeed Ahmed

  13. Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Melbourne Burwood Campus, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Sheikh Mohammed Shariful Islam

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Contributions

Study concept and design: AT and HS; Acquisition of data: AT, SSS, ZIK, and HS; Analysis and interpretation of data: AT, SSS, and HS. Drafting of the manuscript: AT, SSS, ZIK, MK, DG, and HS; Supervision: HS; Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: all authors. Final approval of the version to be published: all authors. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work: all authors.

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Correspondence to Ashis Talukder.

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Talukder, A., Sara, S.S., Khan, Z.I. et al. Prevalence and determinants of hypertension in South-Asian Urban Communities: findings from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data of South Asian countries. J Hum Hypertens 38, 257–266 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41371-023-00879-x

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