A study published in the British Medical Journal this week has highlighted that high blood pressure or hypertension is more concentrated among the poor. The prevalence of hypertension among those with the least resources is a serious issue and warrants urgent policy interventions, it said.
Known as the single largest contributor to avoidable deaths, hypertension is the main risk factor for cardiovascular diseases including stroke, heart attacks and aneurysms. “The results suggest hypertension is no longer a disease of the rich. The distribution of the condition is changing, disproportionately affecting the economically disadvantaged in urban areas of more developed States such as Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir and most north-eastern States,” the study said. The higher prevalence among the poor appears to be not limited to an urban setting, the study showed.
According to Soumitra Ghosh, a professor from the School of Health System Studies at Tata Institute of Social Sciences who co-authored the study, the researchers analysed, adjusted and standardised data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS, 2015-2016).
“Among the poor, determinants like the use of alcohol, tobacco, poor eating habits, consumption of junk food and the like are responsible,” he said. According to him, access to low-calorie food is often difficult for the poor.
The study looked at data of people in the age group of 15 to 49 years. Three blood pressure readings of the people are recorded during the NFHS. While the first readings were not considered, the average of second and third readings was used to determine if the person was hypertensive. “The data reveals that the age-adjusted prevalence of hypertension in India was 11.3% and the prevalence was four percentage points higher in men (13.8%) than in women (10.9%). Hypertension prevalence was 12.5% in urban areas, as compared to 10.6% in rural areas,” the study said.
‘Highest in northeast’
It said that the prevalence of hypertension was highest in the north-eastern states: Sikkim (20.2%), Nagaland (17.6%), Assam (17.6%), Arunachal Pradesh (16.6%) and Tripura (15.4%). Prevalence was very high in a few non-NE states like Jammu and Kashmir (15.8%), Punjab (14.8%), Himachal Pradesh (14.8%) and Telangana (14.2%).
