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Tanzania is one of developing countries with a higher prevalence of hypertension than many
other developing countries. Healthcare workers, teachers and bankers are occupation groups
exposed to hypertension due to the nature of their work. There is currently limited published
data on the burden of hypertension among this group in Tanzania. A descriptive cross-sectional
study was therefore conducted and collection of the data was done from August 2019 to
February 2020 to identify the predicting factors for hypertension among teachers, bankers and
healthcare workers in Arusha city council. A total of 305 working adults aged 18–60 years
were involved in the study. A modified World Health Organization (WHO) STEPwise
approach to chronic disease risk factor surveillance questionnaire collected information about
socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle behaviors, dietary practices, physical activity level,
anthropometric measurements and biochemical measurements. The data collected were
calculated and ranked by using WHO guidelines. The overall hypertension prevalence among
working adults was 23.8%. Age (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR=34.98, 95% CI: 1.30-94.03]),
alcohol consumption (AOR=6.55, 95% CI: 1.22-35.28), low salary (AOR=6.44, 95% CI: 1.12-
37.18) and high Low-Density Lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (AOR=5.93, 95% CI: 1.24-
28.45), were significantly associated with hypertension. These findings can be used by local
policymakers, education, financial and health sectors as baseline information when planning
strategies for management and prevention of hypertension and other Non-Communicable
Diseases (NCDs) at workplace, by designing workplace wellness programs to mitigate the
associated factors. |
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