DOI: 10.5061/dryad.nzs7h44xw
title: Factors associated with hypertension and diabetes in rural communities in the Asante Akim North Municipality of Ghana

description: Hypertension and diabetes are leading non-communicable diseases driving an
 epidemic of cardiovascular diseases in Ghana. Understanding the factors
 associated with the occurrence of hypertension and diabetes especially in
 rural settings is crucial in designing interventions to improve awareness,
 detection, and control. The study assessed factors associated with
 hypertension and diabetes in Asante Akim North Municipality, a rural
 community in the central belt of Ghana.  A cross-sectional study
 design involving 2,576 participants. Data were collected using a
 structured questionnaire to cover socio-demographic characteristics, blood
 pressure measurement, anthropometric measurement, biochemical parameters,
 and modifiable risk factors of hypertension and diabetes. Descriptive
 statistics on the outcome were done. Factors associated with hypertension
 or diabetes were assessed using a multivariable logistic regression model.
 he study found that participants' mean age was 35 years (SD) with a
 slight female preponderance representing 53.88%. Age, marital status,
 educational status, and occupation positively predict the occurrence of
 hypertension. The prevalence of hypertension and diabetes was found to be
 30.9% and 17.7% respectively. The Community members above 18 years of age
 have increased odds of developing hypertension [18-44 years (aOR=1.99,
 CI=1.06-3.71, p&lt;0.05), 45-64 years (aOR=6.12, CI=3.15-11.9,
 p&lt;0.001) and &gt;64 years (aOR=14.55, CI=7.17-29.53,
 p&lt;0.001)]. Community members who were fishing/farming (aOR=0.45,
 CI=0.26-0.76, p&lt;0.01) and being a student/apprentices (aOR=0.11,
 CI=0.02-0.56) were at reduced odds of developing diabetes. Participants
 who take snacks (aOR=0.64, CI=0.41-0.99, p&lt;0.05) during working
 hours had reduced odds of developing diabetes. The study concludes that
 commonly known risk factors such as dietary behaviour, alcohol intake,
 tobacco use, and physical activities were not associated with hypertension
 or diabetes in rural Ghana. Social demographic characteristics and poor
 health screening practices were the main predictors of hypertension and
 diabetes in rural areas. Urgent steps at improving health education and
 population-level screening would be pivotal in controlling hypertension
 and diabetes.
description: Crossectional Inclusion and Exclusion criteria
 established Population of study was
 established Sample size selection was randomly
 done Ethical approval sought Ethical
 protocols followed Data management and analysis
 done
description: # Factors associated with hypertension and diabetes in rural communities
 in the Asante Akim North Municipality of Ghana
 This study focused on
 health diagnosis of rural communities in Asante Akim North Municipal. The
 study interacted with 2,576 community members. The study took the
 anthropometric parameters, blood pressure measurements and biochemical
 parameters of respondents. The anthropometric parameters include height
 and weight measurements and body mass index. The biochemical parameters
 include blood sugar checks. With regards to blood pressure, systolic and
 diasolic were measures three times and the average picked. The study was a
 cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach. The study found that
 social demographic characteristics and poor health screening practices
 were the main predictors of hypertension and diabetes in rural areas. ##
 Code/Software We used SPSS version 25. We then used STATA to run
 regressions for associations in the variables.