PREVALENCE OF NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASE RISK FACTORS IN ERITREA

Objective: To establish the baseline preva-lence rates for non-communicable disease riskfactors in Eritrea.Study Design: A cross-sectional survey wasconducted among all the ethnic groups inEritrea with the WHO STEPwise approach.Hypertension was defined as blood pressure$140/90 mm Hg or a person on medicationfor hypertension, while diabetes based onmedical history of the disease. Of the targetedsample size of 2460, 2352 responded. Re-spondents were distributed among the sixregions of the country proportional to popula-tion size. A multistage cluster sampling tech-nique was used. Males and females from 15 to64 years of age were studied.Main Outcome Measures: Prevalence rates ofhypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, smok-ing, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity,and low vegetable and low fruit consumption.Results: Prevalence rate of daily smoking of7.2% with variations among age, sex, religionand regions. A high prevalence of low fruit andlow vegetable intake was observed at 84.7%and 50.6% respectively. Alcohol drinking was39.6%. Level of physical activity was high(90%). The prevalence of obesity was low at3.3%. The prevalence of hypertension in thegeneral population was 16%, while 2.2% wereknown diabetic patients. More than 80% ofthe hypertensive persons were not aware oftheir condition. No significant rural/urban orsex difference was seen in hypertensionprevalence.Conclusion: The baseline data are useful fordeveloping interventions designed to preventand control NCDs in Eritrea. (Ethn Dis.2006;16:542–546)Key Words: Africa, Eritrea, NCD Prevalence