Factors associated with hypertension among employees in arusha city, Tanzania

Abstract

Tanzania is one of developing countries with a higher prevalence of hypertension than many other developing countries. Healthcare workers, teachers and bankers are occupation groups exposed to hypertension due to the nature of their work. There is currently limited published data on the burden of hypertension among this group in Tanzania. A descriptive cross-sectional study was therefore conducted and collection of the data was done from August 2019 to February 2020 to identify the predicting factors for hypertension among teachers, bankers and healthcare workers in Arusha city council. A total of 305 working adults aged 18–60 years were involved in the study. A modified World Health Organization (WHO) STEPwise approach to chronic disease risk factor surveillance questionnaire collected information about socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle behaviors, dietary practices, physical activity level, anthropometric measurements and biochemical measurements. The data collected were calculated and ranked by using WHO guidelines. The overall hypertension prevalence among working adults was 23.8%. Age (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR=34.98, 95% CI: 1.30-94.03]), alcohol consumption (AOR=6.55, 95% CI: 1.22-35.28), low salary (AOR=6.44, 95% CI: 1.12- 37.18) and high Low-Density Lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (AOR=5.93, 95% CI: 1.24- 28.45), were significantly associated with hypertension. These findings can be used by local policymakers, education, financial and health sectors as baseline information when planning strategies for management and prevention of hypertension and other Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) at workplace, by designing workplace wellness programs to mitigate the associated factors.