Abstract
Background: Hypertension and cardiovascular diseases are highly prevalence and the leading causes of deaths in Myanmar. There are no previous studies that focus on health literacy and hypertension in Myanmar. Objectives: This study aimed to identify the prevalence of hypertension and association between health literacy and hypertension among middle and elderly aged in Mandalay Region, Myanmar.Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted among middle aged and elderly population in 3 townships of Mandalay Region, Myanmar. A multiple logistics regression was used to determine the association between hypertension and determinant factors after controlling the effects of co-variates presenting adjusted OR and 95% confidence interval.Results: Of the total 410 respondents, the prevalence of hypertension was 21.95 %. Where, 39.02% had inadequate health literacy level of hypertension. The factors significantly associated with hypertension were inadequate and problematic health literacy (AOR= 2.74, 95%CI: 1.43 - 5.21), age 50-59 years (AOR= 3.70, 95%CI: 1.71 -7.97), ≥ 60 (AOR= 4.48, 95%CI: 2.22 - 9.04), unemployed (AOR= 2.40, 95%CI: 1.23 - 4.68), overweight (AOR= 3.85, 95%CI: 1.84 – 8.07), and obesity (AOR= 6.00, 95%CI: 2.75 - 13.08), salty foods consumption (AOR= 3.12, 95%CI: 1.68 – 5.79), sweet fruits consumption (AOR= 4.00, 95%CI: 1.95 – 8.19), consuming food cooked with sesame or peanut oil (AOR= 2.03, 95%CI: 1.06 – 3.87) and alcohol consumption (AOR= 7.43, 95%CI: 3.56 - 15.49), no depression (CESD < 16) (AOR= 2.65, 95%CI: 1.37 – 5.09).Conclusion: The concerned organizations should provide health literacy to address increasing pattern of hypertension and prevention and health promotion activities should be encouraged. Further studies with operational research or longitudinal study design are recommended to provide the better understanding of the relationship between health literacy, other factors, and hypertension among middle and elderly aged.
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