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Is Migration Affecting Prevalence, Awareness, Treatment and Control of Hypertension of Men in Kerala, India?

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Abstract

We assessed hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment and control among male gulf migrant and non-migrant workers in Kerala state of India. We did a cross sectional survey of 191 migrant and 193 non-migrant men aged 25–64 years selected using a multistage random sampling method. Using World Health Organization STEPS approach, we collected information on demographics, STEP 1 variables and measured STEP-2 variables. Multivariate analysis was used to find the relation between migration and hypertension. Age adjusted hypertension prevalence was 57.6 % among migrants and 31.7 % among non-migrants (p < 0.05). Migrants were more likely to be hypertensive (OR 3.00, 95 % CI 1.83–4.94) than non-migrants after adjusting for age, STEP 1 and STEP 2 variables. Though not statistically significant (p = 0.109), awareness of hypertension was lower among migrants (43.5 %) compared to non migrants (56.9 %). Treatment (migrants: 34 %, non-migrants: 53 %, p < 0.05) and control (migrants: 12 %, non-migrants: 48 %, p < 0.001) of hypertension were lower among migrants. Greater attention to improve the treatment and control of hypertension among migrants is warranted in this population.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all the participants in the study and the faculty members of Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies who provided technical support at various stages of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies (AMCHSS), Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), Trivandrum, Kerala, 695011, India

    N. Shamim Begam, Kannan Srinivasan & G. K. Mini

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  1. N. Shamim Begam
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  2. Kannan Srinivasan
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  3. G. K. Mini
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Correspondence to G. K. Mini.

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The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the study, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Written informed consent was obtained from all the participants before the study.

Ethical Clearance

Ethical clearance for the study was obtained from the institute ethics committee of the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum. All participants gave written informed consent.

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Begam, N.S., Srinivasan, K. & Mini, G.K. Is Migration Affecting Prevalence, Awareness, Treatment and Control of Hypertension of Men in Kerala, India?. J Immigrant Minority Health 18, 1365–1370 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-016-0353-y

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