Prevalence of hypertension, diabetes and obesity: baseline findings of a population based survey in four provinces in Sri Lanka

Objective To determine the prevalence of selected cardiovascular risk factors in adult Sri Lankan population in four provinces. Design Cross-sectional, based on a stratified cluster sampling method. Settings Four provinces, namely the Western, North Central, Southern and Uva. Patients Six thousand and forty seven participants (2692 men) between the age of 30 and 65 years were surveyed. Measurements Risk factors measured included height, weight, waist and hip circumference. Waist to hip ratio and body mass index were calculated, and overweight (23 kg/m 2 ) and obesity (≥25 kg/m 2 ) determined. Hypertension (systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg or use of antihypertensive medications), and diabetes mellitus (fasting serum plasma glucose level ≥ 7 mmol/L or use of antidiabetic medications) and impaired fasting glycaemia (≥ 6.1 to Results The prevalence of hypertension as defined was 18.8% (CI 14.5-23.1) for men and 19.3% (CI 12.2-26.4) for women. The prevalence of diabetes was 14.2% (CI 11.9-16.5) for men and 13.5% (CI 6.9-20.1) for women while impaired fasting glycaemia was 14.2% for men and 14.1% for women. The mean body mass index was 21.5 kg/m2 (SD = 3.7) in men. It was lower than that in women, 23.3 kg/m 2 (SD = 4.5). The prevalence of obesity was 20.3% in men and 36.5 % in women. Regional differences were seen in the mean fasting blood glucose and prevalence of diabetes, and mean BMI and prevalence of obesity were highest in Western province. Mean blood pressure and prevalence of hypertension were highest in the Uva Province. Southern Province had the lowest prevalence of hypertension and diabetes, and North Central Province had lowest anthropometric measures of obesity. Conclusions The prevalence of the selected cardiovascular risk factors is common in the adult Sri Lankan population surveyed. Regional differences exist in the prevalence of these risk factors. The prevalence of high level of risk factors requires urgent public health action. Key words: Non-communicable disease, risk factors DOI: 10.4038/cmj.v50i2.1571 Ceylon Medical Journal Vol.50(2) 2005 pp62-70