Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Dec 7;18(1):484.
doi: 10.1186/s12884-018-2122-5.

Prevalence of behavioral risk factors of cardiovascular diseases and associated socio-economic factors among pregnant women in a rural area in Southern Nepal

Rajan Paudel  1 , Kwan Lee  2 , Jitendra Kumar Singh  3 , Seok-Ju Yoo  2 , Dilaram Acharya  4   5 , Rajendra Kadel  6 , Samaj Adhikari  7 , Mohan Paudel  8 , Narayan Mahotra  9
Affiliations

Prevalence of behavioral risk factors of cardiovascular diseases and associated socio-economic factors among pregnant women in a rural area in Southern Nepal

Rajan Paudel et al. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. .

Abstract

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have dramatically infiltrated populations living in abject poverty in Low- and Middle-income Countries (LMICs), and poor maternal and child health outcomes have been frequently reported for those with CVD risk factors. However, few studies have explored the behavioral risk factors of CVDs among pregnant women in rural settings. This study aimed at determining the prevalence and identifying the socio-economic predictors of behavioral risk factors of CVDs among pregnant women in rural area in Southern Nepal.

Methods: A Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in 52 clusters of Dhanusha District of Nepal in a total of 426 pregnant women in their second trimester using multistage cluster sampling method. Multivariable logistic regression model was used to assess independent associations between behavioral risk factors during pregnancy and maternal socio-economic characteristics.

Results: Of the 426 study participants, 86.9, 53.9, 21.3 and 13.3%, respectively, reported insufficient fruits and vegetables consumption, insufficient physical activity, tobacco use, and harmful alcohol drinking. Socio-economic factors significantly associated with more than one behavioral risk factors in expectant mothers with a primary level education (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.78; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) (1.35-5.72)), 20-34 years age group (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) 0.27; 95% CI (0.13-0.56)), and those with the highest wealth index (AOR 0.36; 95% CI (0.16-0.84)).

Conclusion: Higher prevalence of behavioral risk factors for CVDs and their socio-economic factors prevailing among pregnant women living in rural Nepal call for immediate health promotion interventions such as community awareness and appropriate antenatal counseling.

Keywords: Behavioral risk factors; Cardiovascular disease; Nepal; Pregnant women; Socio-economic predictors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The Matri-Suman study was approved by Nepal Health Research Council (Approval no: 101) and the Research ethics committee of the Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, India (approval no: ECR/526/Inst/UP/2014 Dt.31.1.14). Approval was also sought from the study district, District Public Health Office, Dhanusha, Nepal (Ref. 2245). Written informed consent was obtained before data collection. Personal identifiers were removed before data analysis. Study objectives were clearly explained to all participants; participants were informed of the right to withdraw their participation any time during the interview.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. American Heart Association. What is cardiovascular disease? Available from: http://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/consumer-healthcare/what-is-cardio.... Accessed 18 Dec 2017.
    1. World Health Organization. Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) fact sheet. Available from: http://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cardiovascular-diseas.... Accessed 18 Dec 2017.
    1. Mendis S, Puska P, Norrving B. Global atlas on cardiovascular disease prevention and control. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2011.
    1. Vaidya A, Pokharel PK, Nagesh S, Karki P, Kumar S, Majhi S. Prevalence of coronary heart disease in the urban adult males of eastern Nepal: a population-based analytical cross-sectional study. Indian Heart J. 2009;61(4):341–347. - PubMed
    1. Maskey A, Sayami A, Pandey M. Coronary artery disease: an emerging epidemic in Nepal. J Nepal Med Assoc. 2003;42(146):122–124. doi: 10.31729/jnma.807. - DOI

MeSH terms