Study of lifestyle diseases among workers of an ammunition factory

Abstract

Background: Lifestyle diseases which include hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, obesity, and stroke are caused by influences on the human body by the way people live their lives. This study is an effort to describe the prevalence of various lifestyle diseases; factors associated with their causation and suggest measures for improvement of the health status among the industrial workers. Materials and Methods: A total of 351 workers were included in this study. The prevalence and pattern of lifestyle diseases among industrial workers were studied. The survey had two principal components, namely, the pretested standardized questionnaire and clinical examination. Blood sugar levels were assessed by a glucometer. Results: Hypertension was the most common lifestyle disease, seen among 43.0% of workers. It was significantly related to age, socioeconomic status type 2, body mass index (BMI), and habit of tobacco chewing. Only one-fourth were aware of their blood pressure status. Other diseases brought out were diabetes type 2 mellitus (7.7%) and obesity (4%). In this study, among those with type 2 diabetes mellitus, 29.63% were not aware of their blood sugar status. Diabetes was significantly related to BMI and increased significantly with increase in age. Also, one-third of the study population was overweight. Conclusion: Lifestyle diseases were found to be the major causes of morbidity among the study participants. Hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and overweight/obesity were the common morbidities. These conditions were associated with factors such as age, socioeconomic status, BMI, and history of tobacco chewing.