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
Observational Study
. 2019 Mar 13;9(3):e025538.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025538.

Association between socioeconomic status and prevalence of non-communicable diseases risk factors and comorbidities in Bangladesh: findings from a nationwide cross-sectional survey

Tuhin Biswas  1   2   3 , Nick Townsend  4 , Md Saimul Islam  5 , Md Rajibul Islam  6 , Rajat Das Gupta  7   8 , Sumon Kumar Das  2 , Abdullah Al Mamun  2   3
Affiliations
Observational Study

Association between socioeconomic status and prevalence of non-communicable diseases risk factors and comorbidities in Bangladesh: findings from a nationwide cross-sectional survey

Tuhin Biswas et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the prevalence and distribution in the comorbidity of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among the adult population in Bangladesh by measures of socioeconomic status (SES).

Design: This was a cross-sectional study.

Setting: This study used Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2011 data.

Participants: Total 8763 individuals aged ≥35 years were included.

Primary and secondary outcome measures: The primary outcome measures were diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HTN) and overweight/obesity. The study further assesses factors (in particular SES) associated with these comorbidities (DM, HTN and overweight/obesity).

Results: Of 8763 adults, 12% had DM, 27% HTN and 22% were overweight/obese (body mass index ≥23 kg/m2). Just over 1% of the sample had all three conditions, 3% had both DM and HTN, 3% DM and overweight/obesity and 7% HTN and overweight/obesity. DM, HTN and overweight/obesity were more prevalent those who had higher education, were non-manual workers, were in the richer to richest SES and lived in urban settings. Individuals in higher SES groups were also more likely to suffer from comorbidities. In the multivariable analysis, it was found that individual belonging to the richest wealth quintile had the highest odds of having HTN (adjusted OR (AOR) 1.49, 95% CI 1.29 to 1.72), DM (AOR 1.63, 95% CI 1.25 to 2.14) and overweight/obesity (AOR 4.3, 95% CI 3.32 to 5.57).

Conclusions: In contrast to more affluent countries, individuals with NCDs risk factors and comorbidities are more common in higher SES individuals. Public health approaches must consider this social patterning in tackling NCDs in the country.

Keywords: Bangladesh; diabetes; hypertension; non-communicable disease; overweight; socioeconomic status.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Scatter plot between age with blood glucose, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and BMI. BMI, body mass index; DM, diabetes mellitus; HTN, hypertension.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, overweight and comorbidity by sex among Bangladeshi adults.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Murray CJ, Vos T, Lozano R, et al. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 291 diseases and injuries in 21 regions, 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet 2013;380:2197–223. 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61689-4 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lozano R, Naghavi M, Foreman K, et al. Global and regional mortality from 235 causes of death for 20 age groups in 1990 and 2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet 2013;380:2095–128. 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61728-0 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bennett D, Bisanzio D, Deribew A, et al. Global, regional, and national under-5 mortality, adult mortality, age-specific mortality, and life expectancy, 1970-2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Lancet 2017;390:1084–150. 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31833-0 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization. Global status report on noncommunicable diseases 2010. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2011:161.
    1. Abegunde DO, Mathers CD, Adam T, et al. The burden and costs of chronic diseases in low-income and middle-income countries. Lancet 2007;370:1929–38. 10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61696-1 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types