The burden and correlates of multiple cardiometabolic risk factors in a semi-urban population of Nepal: a community-based cross-sectional study

This study assessed the burden and correlates of three cardiometabolic risk factors, (hypertension, diabetes, and overweight/obesity), and their possible clustering patterns in a semi-urban population of Nepal. Data were obtained from a community-based management of non-communicable disease in Nepal (COBIN) Wave II study, which included 2,310 adults aged 25–64 years in a semi-urban area of Pokhara Metropolitan City of Nepal, using the World Health Organization-STEPS questionnaire. Unadjusted and adjusted binary logistic regression models were used to study the correlates of the individual risk factors and their clustering. The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, and overweight/obesity was 34.5%, 11.7%, and 52.9%, respectively. In total, 68.2% of the participants had at least one risk factor and many participants had two risks in combination: 6.8% for ‘hypertension and diabetes’, 7.4% for ‘diabetes and overweight/obesity’ and 21.4% for ‘hypertension and overweight/obesity’. In total, 4.7% had all three risk factors. Janajati ethnicity (1.4–2.1 times), male gender (1.5 times) and family history of diabetes (1.4–3.4 times) were associated with presence of individual risk factors. Similarly, Janajati ethnicity (aOR: 4.31, 95% CI: 2.53–7.32), current smoking (aOR: 4.81, 95% CI: 2.27–10.21), and family history of diabetes (aOR: 4.60, 95% CI: 2.67–7.91) were associated with presence of all three risk factors. Our study found a high prevalence of all single and combined cardiometabolic risk factors in Nepal. It underlines the need to manage risk factors in aggregate and plan prevention activities targeting multiple risk factors.