Risk Factors for Non-Communicable Disease among the Adult Population in the Kassena-Nankana District. A Community-Based Survey.
Loading...
Date
2003
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Ghana
Abstract
A community-based survey of 2018 adults in the Kassena-Nankana District of the Upper East Region aged 15-64 years was carried out to assess the prevalence of certain risk factors of the non-communicable diseases; cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory conditions and cancers. This survey was conducted in the month of June during the planting season for the major crops cultivated in the Kassena Nankana district. Tobacco use among the study population was determined to be 20.9%. Men mostly smoked cigarettes and hand rolled tobacco, generally initiating this practice between the ages of 15-30years. The women mostly chewed tobacco leaves and rubbed tobacco powder on their gums; a habit initiated generally after 35years of age. Alcohol consumption was relatively high among the study population (55.03%) and was prevalent between both sexes. Shea fruits were the only local fruits that were frequently consumed. Other local fruits were consumed by less than 15% of the population surveyed. The study population was physically active with 90% of the population engaging in daily vigorous physical exercise for at least an hour. The prevalence of obesity was evaluated using two indices; body mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio (WHpR). Evaluating the study population BMIs indicated an obesity level of
2.69% whilst a higher figure of 33.9% indicative of high central obesity was derived by the computation of the WHpR. A hypertension prevalence of 6.21% and 4.54% was found in the in the study population using systolic and diastolic cutoffs of 140mmHg and 90mmHg respectively. A more detailed study that will evaluate serum cholesterol levels and determine the prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes in the community is needed as its outcome would complement these findings.