The relationship between dietary habits and hypertension in middle-aged rural populations of Karen state, Myanmar
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62992/qw0knc34Keywords:
Hypertension, Karen state, Myanmar, RuralAbstract
Background: Hypertension, a non-communicable disease, is a leading health problem that can cause life threatening complications and a major cause of premature death. There are no previous studies on the prevalence of hypertension in rural areas, Karen State, Myanmar.
Objective: This study aimed to identify the prevalence of prehypertension/hypertension and its associated risk factors among the middle-aged population in rural areas, Karen State, Myanmar.
Method: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted among rural areas of 3 townships (Myawaddy, Hlaing Bwe’, and Kawkareik) in Karen State, Myanmar with aged 40-59 years old was chosen by multistage random and population proportion to size sampling. Factors with p-value < 0.05 were considered as statistically significant and the results were illustrated with Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR), 95% Confidence Interval (95% CI).
Results: Among 487 participants, the prevalence of pre-hypertension/hypertension among the middle-aged population in Karen State was 51.95% (95% CI: 47.50 - 56.37). The factors significantly associated with prehypertension/ hypertension were consumption of sugar sweetened ≥ 3 days per week (AOR = 4.15, 95% CI: 1.44 - 11.95), consumption of salty foods ≥ 3 days per week (AOR = 3.32, 95% CI: 1.77-7.22) and obesity (AOR = 2.26, 95% CI: 1.41-3.61).
Conclusion: About one third of people resident in rural areas in this study had high blood pressure. The characteristics that were substantially linked with prehypertension/hypertension included being obesity, consumption of sugar sweetened foods & salty foods.
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