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
. 2019 Nov 10;9(11):e027880.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-027880.

Prevalence of risk factors of non-communicable diseases in Kerala, India: results of a cross-sectional study

P S Sarma  1 , Rajeev Sadanandan  2 , Jissa Vinoda Thulaseedharan  1 , Biju Soman  3 , Kannan Srinivasan  1 , R P Varma  1 , Manju R Nair  1 , A S Pradeepkumar  1 , Panniyammakal Jeemon  1 , K R Thankappan  1 , Raman V Kutty  1
Affiliations

Prevalence of risk factors of non-communicable diseases in Kerala, India: results of a cross-sectional study

P S Sarma et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors in Kerala.

Design: A community-based, cross-sectional survey.

Participants: In 2016-2017 a multistage, cluster sample of 12 012 (aged 18-69 years) participants from all 14 districts of Kerala were studied.

Main outcome measures: NCD risk factors as stipulated in the WHO's approach to NCD risk factors surveillance were studied. Parameters that were studied included physical activity score, anthropometry, blood pressure (BP), and fasting blood glucose (FBG) and morning urine sample to estimate dietary intake of salt.

Results: The mean age was 42.5 years (SD=14.8). Abdominal obesity was higher in women (72.6%; 95% CI 70.7 to 74.5) compared with men (39.1%; 95% CI 36.6 to 41.7), and also higher among urban (67.4%; 95% CI 65.0 to 69.7) compared with rural (58.6%; 95% CI 56.6 to 60.5) residents. Current use of tobacco and alcohol in men was 20.3% (95% CI 18.6 to 22.1) and 28.9% (95% CI 26.5 to 31.4), respectively. The estimated daily salt intake was 6.7 g/day. The overall prevalence of raised BP was 30.4% (95% CI 29.1 to 31.7) and raised FBG was 19.2% (95% CI 18.1 to 20.3). Raised BP was higher in men (34.6%; 95% CI 32.6 to 36.7) compared with women (28%; 95% CI 26.4 to 29.4), but was not different between urban (33.1%; 95% CI 31.3 to 34.9) and rural (29.8%; 95% CI 28.3 to 31.3) residents. Only 12.4% of individuals with hypertension and 15.3% of individuals with diabetes were found to have these conditions under control. Only 13.8% of urban and 18.4% of rural residents did not have any of the seven NCD risk factors studied.

Conclusion: Majority of the participants had more than one NCD risk factor. There was no rural-urban difference in terms of raised BP or raised FBG prevalence in Kerala. The higher rates of NCD risk factors and lower rates of hypertension and diabetes control call for concerted primary and secondary prevention strategies to address the future burden of NCDs.

Keywords: Kerala; NCD risk factors; diabetes; hypertension; prevalence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study sample selection flow chart.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Clustering of non-communicable disease risk factors in the study population.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Dandona L, Dandona R, Kumar GA, et al. . Nations within a nation: variations in epidemiological transition across the states of India, 1990–2016 in the global burden of disease study. The Lancet 2017;390:2437–60. 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32804-0 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. ICMR, PHFI, IHME India: Health of the Nation’s States-The India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative. New Delhi: ICMR, PHFI, IHME, 2017.
    1. Daivadanam M, Absetz P, Sathish T, et al. . Lifestyle change in Kerala, India: needs assessment and planning for a community-based diabetes prevention trial. BMC Public Health 2013;13:95 10.1186/1471-2458-13-95 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner Census : Primary census Abstracts. India: Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, 2011.
    1. Thankappan KR, Shah B, Mathur P, et al. . Risk factor profile for chronic non-communicable diseases: results of a community-based study in Kerala, India. Indian J Med Res 2010;131:53–63. - PubMed

Publication types