Why the study?
Hypertension has emerged as a significant public health challenge and leading cause of mortality and morbidity in developing countries like Bangladesh.
A high prevalence of hypertension (34.4%) was observed among residents of Dhaka during the COVID-19 pandemic, strongly associated with dietary habits, stress, and smoking.
May warrant lifestyle screening in urban pandemic settings; extends cross-sectional associations but leaves causal inference open.
Background Hypertension (HTN) has emerged as a significant public health challenge and a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in developing countries like Bangladesh. Objective This study aimed to assess the prevalence of hypertension and its associated risk factors among residents of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted using a multistage random sampling technique to select 305 individuals from Khilkhet Thana in Dhaka North City Corporation. Data were collected through direct surveys using a modified version of the WHO STEPS questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 22 software. Findings The study identified a 34.4 % prevalence of HTN among the participants, with 46.2 % of hypertensive individuals being under 40 years of age. Of the 105 hypertensive individuals, 65 % were newly diagnosed during the study, and 11 previously diagnosed individuals were not on any medication. A significant association (P < 0.001) was observed between the prevalence of HTN and inadequate intake of fruits (OR = 3.129, 95 % CI = 1.912–5.122, χ2 = 21.328), insufficient vegetables consumption (OR = 2.199, 95 % CI = 1.356–3.565, χ2 = 10.373), high intake of fatty foods (OR = 2.387, 95 % CI = 1.465–3.890, χ2 = 12.454), and excessive salt consumption (OR = 2.771, 95 % CI = 1.677–4.579, χ2 = 16.310). Additionally, the prevalence of HTN was notably higher among overweight (46.70 %) and at-risk (22.90 %) individuals, based on Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), respectively. The study also found significant correlations (P < 0.001) between HTN and factors such as smoking (OR = 2.824, 95 % CI = 1.601–4.980, χ2 = 13.432), kidney disease (OR = 7.534, 95 % CI = 2.694–21.070, χ2 = 19.282), general stress (OR = 3.692, 95 % CI = 2.179–6.255, χ2 = 24.896), COVID-19 related stress (OR = 3.511, 95 % CI = 2.116–5.826, χ2 = 24.712) and sleeping pattern (OR = 5.798, 95 % CI = 3.404–9.875, χ2 = 45.724). Conclusions The high prevalence of HTN, particularly among younger individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlights the urgent need for nationwide surveys, surveillance, and clinical research to accurately depict the true burden of HTN in Bangladesh.
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Roy et al. (2024) studied this question.
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