Prevalence of non-communicable disease risk factors among nurses and para-health professionals working at primary healthcare level of Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors among nurses and para-health professionals (PHPs) working at primary healthcare centres in Bangladesh. In addition to this, we also investigated the association of these risk factors with the categories of health professions. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study and the sampling technique was a census. SETTING: The study site was a medical university of Bangladesh where the study population was recruited by NCD Control Programme of Directorate General of Health Services to participate in a 3-day training session from November 2017 to May 2018. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1942 government-employed senior staff nurses (SSNs) and PHPs working at Upazila Health Complexes. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The data were collected using a modified STEPwise approach to NCD risk factors surveillance questionnaire of the World Health Organisation (V.3.2). The prevalence of NCD risk factors was presented descriptively and the χ² test was used to determine the association between NCD risk factors distribution and categories of health professions. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 37.6 years (SD 9.5) and most of them (87.6%) had a diploma in their respective fields. Physical inactivity (86.9%), inadequate fruits and/vegetable intake (56.3%) and added salt intake (35.6%) were the most prevalent behavioural risk factors. The prevalence of central obesity, overweight, raised blood glucose and raised BP were 83.5%, 42.6%, 19.2% and 12.8% respectively. Overall, the NCD risk factors prevalence was higher among PHPs compared with SSNs. A highly significant association (p<0.001) was found between risk factors and the categories of health professions for tobacco use, alcohol intake, added salt intake and physical inactivity. CONCLUSION: High NCD risk factors prevalence and its significant association with SSNs and PHPs demand an appropriate risk-reduction strategy to minimise the possibility of chronic illness among them.