The prevalence of risk factors for non-communicable diseases among patients attending outpatient department of tertiary care centre, Bengaluru: A cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are disorders that manifest gradually and are caused by a confluence of genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioural factors.^[1] NCDs include ailments that impact the musculoskeletal system, nervous system, heart, kidneys and neurological system. These ailments include cancer, diabetes, obesity, senility, blindness, arthritis and related diseases, chronic non-specific respiratory illnesses (such as chronic bronchitis, emphysema and asthma), the long-term repercussions of accidents and different metabolic and degenerative illnesses.^[2]

Worldwide, 74% of all deaths, or 41 million/year, are caused by NCDs. Each year, worldwide, 17 million people under the age of 70 die from an NCD. Cardiovascular diseases account for 17.9 million annual fatalities, followed by cancer (9.3 million), chronic respiratory diseases (4.1 million) and diabetes (2.0 million, including kidney disease-related mortality) as the leading causes of death.^[1]

NCDs are responsible for 65% of all mortality in India.^[3] Due to the rising prevalence of NCDs, which are significantly increasing morbidity and mortality in both urban and rural regions, India is going through a rapid shift in its health as well as a large loss of life’s potentially productive years (between the ages of 35 and 64).^[2]

NCDs are caused by risk factors connected to lifestyle, such as bad eating habits, inactivity and problematic alcohol and cigarette use, and the primary metabolic risk factors for NCDs are obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high levels of total cholesterol in the blood.^[1] In light of this, the present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of NCD risk factors among patients utilising a Bengaluru tertiary care facility.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

RESULTS

Participants in the study had an average age of 43.6 ± 14.6 years. Table 1 lists the sociodemographic details of the research population. About 51.9% of the participants in the study were female, while 48.1% were male. In terms of age, 34% of the subjects were between the ages of 21 and 35, 31.7% were between the ages of 36 and 50 and only 6% were between the ages of 66 and 80. Table 2 displays the prevalence of risk factors for non-communicable illnesses among the study participants. Sedentary lifestyle prevalence is 90.6%, followed by physical inactivity at 68.3% and obesity at 11.5%.

Table 3 displays the diagnoses of the study subjects. Type II diabetes mellitus is the most common diagnosis, accounting for 38.5% of cases, followed by hypothyroidism (14%), diabetes and hypertension (9.8%), hypertension (8.5%) and hyperthyroidism (0.4%).

Tables 4 and 5 demonstrate the relationship between sociodemographic traits and risk variables for NCDs. Risk factors such as obesity, waist-hip ratio and inactivity were substantially correlated with age group, as shown in Table 4. It was discovered that younger age groups had larger waist-hip ratios and sedentary lifestyles.

Table 5 shows a substantial relationship between gender and risk variables such as obesity, sedentary lifestyles and waist-tohip ratios. In contrast to males, females had greater rates of risk variables such as sedentary behaviour, waist-hip ratio and physical inactivity, whereas males had much higher rates of obesity.

Table 6 illustrates the relationship between study participants’ diagnoses and risk factors for NCDs. There was a significant correlation between these risk factors, such as obesity and waist-hip ratios and diagnoses, suggesting that people with these conditions are more likely to develop NCDs. The majority of study participants were diagnosed with type II diabetes mellitus (38.5%), of which 34.58% had a sedentary lifestyle, 28.95% were neither walking nor doing any exercise and 4.79% were obese.

DISCUSSION

Among the study participants, the percentage of males and females was almost equal 48.1% and 51.9%, respectively. Participants in the study had an average age of 43.6 ± 14.6 years, although the majority belonged to the young age group of 21–35 years (34%). There was a significant association between risk factors such as physical inactivity, waist-hip ratio, obesity and age group, which implies that as age increases, the risk of developing NCDs increases. In our study, we found that the prevalence of physical inactivity is 68.3%, which is considerably higher than the study done by Bhattacherjee et al.,^[4] where it was 50.8%. In our study, female participants had a higher percentage of inactivity (36.04%) compared to male participants (32.29%), which is comparable to the study by Anand et al.,^[7] but different from the study by Negi et al.,^[8] where male participants had a higher percentage of inactivity. The prevalence of a sedentary lifestyle found in our study was 90.6%, of which the majority were female (49.79%), which is considerably less compared to the study done by Bhattacherjee et al.,^[4] where 76.3% of females were leading a sedentary lifestyle. When compared to a study by Shriraam et al.,^[9] where the prevalence of obesity was 2.2%, the present study’s prevalence of obesity was 11.5%, which is over 5 times higher. In our study, males were more likely to be obese (6.4%) than females (5%), which is in contrast to research by Dahal et al.^[10] and Saxena et al.,^[11] which found that females were more likely to be obese than males.

CONCLUSION

NCD cases are increasing at an epidemic rate with population growth. According to the present study, Bengaluru city has a significant incidence of risk factors for NCDs. The study population was more likely to lead a sedentary lifestyle and engage in little physical activity, both of which are modifiable risk factors. This needs to be resolved right away by community-based interventions, such as carrying out health education initiatives to raise awareness of the dangers to health and the value of frequent follow-up. The primary health-care services should be strengthened by organising periodic health checkup camps for screening high-risk groups and their management.