S. Bhaskara Rao1, G. Ganga Bhavani2, B. Devi Madhavi3
Hypertension is an iceberg disease and it remains silent, being generally asymptomatic most of its course. It is one of the major risk factors for cardiovascular mortality, which accounts for 20-50% of all deaths. The nature of profession puts bus drivers at higher risk of developing hypertension. Due to lack of information regarding the prevalence of hypertension and its determinants among the RTC bus drivers in Visakhapatnam, the present study is carried out. OBJECTIVE: To measure occurrence of certain risk factors for hypertension among bus drivers and to study the proportion of bus drivers having hypertension METHODOLOGY: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted among bus drivers working in APSRTC Visakhapatnam city during months of Dec. 2014 – Jan. 2015. One of the six bus depots was randomly selected, a prior permission from the depot manager was taken and convenient sample of 100 bus drivers considered for study. Data was collected using a pre tested semi structured questionnaire to the study subjects after obtaining informed consent. All the individuals who are willing to participate were included and those not willing to participate and who were<21years and >60years of age were excluded from the study. Data was analyzed by using Microsoft excel, statistical tests were applied where ever necessary and p value of <0.05 was considered as statistical significant. Study materials include mercury sphygmomanometer, stethoscope, measuring tape, weighing machine. RESULTS: The mean age of study population was 42.9years, majority (90%) of them belongs to class II and III according to modified B. G. Prasad’s classification, prevalence of hypertension among study population was (36%), of whom 44.4% of participants were not aware of their hypertensive status. Family history of hypertension observed in 46% of the study population. About 59% of the study population were overweight & obese, of them 45.7% had hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of hypertension among APSRTC bus drivers of Visakhapatnam was found to be high i.e. 36%. In order to reduce the prevalence in future health education regarding diet, physical activity and life style modifications are required.
