Prevalence of Hypertension and Its Associated Factors among Adults in Selected Areas of Bangladesh: A Community Based Cross-sectional Study

Background: Hypertension is a silent killer and an overwhelming global public health challenge. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors of hypertension among adults in Bangladesh. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 400 adults who lived in Dhaka, Mymensing, Sylhet and Khulna District. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire that is adapted from the WHO Stepwise approach. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 25. Descriptive statistics and bivariate logistic regression analysis were conducted and statistical significance was declared at a p-value ≤0.05. Results: This study identified a high prevalence of hypertension in the study area and it was 39.75%. Among the male the prevalence was 23.5% and the prevalence was 16.5% among female. In this study hypertension was significantly associated with the age group 51-65 years (OR=1.02; CI 0.557-1.862) , ever smoking (OR= 2.59; CI 1.718-3.917) consume  less fruits (OR=3.125; CI 0.839-11.632) and vegetable (OR=2.25; CI 1.364-3.725), physically inactive (OR=1.48;CI 0.973-2.252) overweight (OR=7.98; CI 4.612-13.793) and had diabetes mellitus (0R=2.38; CI 1.213-4.659). Conclusion: The prevalence of hypertension was considerably higher in this study area. Hence, the health care system needs to establish strategies to improve the diagnostic and screening services. Community-level intervention and regular assessment, screening, and diagnosis of behavioral, socio-demographic, and physiological risk factors, screening, should be institutionalized to address the occult burden of hypertension.