An Understanding of Hypertensive Factors: A Study at Charghat Thana of Bangladesh

The core objective of the study was to investigate the impact of influential factors on hypertension in Bangladesh. The non-communicable disease hypertension is emerging as a major health problem in Bangladesh. It is a silent killer causing a lot of mortality and morbidity. Many researchers have studied the in-depth patterns of hypertension in different populations of the world. In Bangladesh, some researchers have studied the fundamental situation of hypertension, but there is no individual, in-depth assessment of it. Considering the above situation, this study was undertaken. Data were collected from 1600 respondents using multistage cluster sampling through an interview schedule. The binary backward logistic regression method has been used to identify risk factors of hypertension. Also, the performance of the fitted model has been examined by using the likelihood ratio test, Wald test, Hosmer–Lemeshow test and Nagelkerke R-squared. The study demonstrated that the percentages of diastolic hypertension (16.20%) was greater than systolic hypertension (12.30%) in the age group below 40 years, while the percentages of diastolic hypertension (39.10%) were less than systolic hypertension (50.90%) in the age group above 60 years. However, both systolic (31%) and diastolic (31.20%) hypertension rates were approximately the same in the age group 40-60 years. The positive significant impact of types of work, working hours per day, social stress, occupational stress, mental stress, diabetes, and hypertension in families, overweight, smoking, and access salt intake have been found on hypertension. Also, educational level and regular exercise have been identified as negative risk factors for hypertension. There should be more careful handling of blood pressure medications in elderly patients. Bangladesh can effectively control hypertension and improve public health by promoting lifestyle changes, a healthy diet, increased physical activity, and a smoking-free society.