Prevalence and factors associated with hypertension, among government nurses at a selected hospital in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The prevalence of hypertension is increasing globally, especially the ageing populations, due to lifestyle risk factors such as unhealthy diets and lack of physical inactivity. Nurses are particularly at risk for hypertension due to occupation-related factors and like stress, unhealthy dietary habits, overweight, obesity, and sedentary lifestyles. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of hypertension and its associated factors among nurses working at District General Hospital Horana in Sri Lanka. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 274 nurses working at the hospital. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire including socio-demographic characteristics, health status and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) to assess stress levels. Data were analyzed using SPSS v25.0. Among 274 nurses, the mean age was 45.7±8.4yrs, the majority (97.1%, n=266) were female, married (94.5%, n=259), had a monthly income >Rs 81,000.00 (72.3%,n=198) and 91.6% (n=251) had 10-19 years of work experience. A 12.3%(n=34) of the sample had hypertension and 11.2% (n=31) had diabetes. Most had a family history of diabetes (46.9%) and hypertension (57.4%). The PSS results indicated that the majority (76.9% ,n=213) had moderate stress levels (scores from 14-26 in 0-40 scale). Gender (P<0.001), level of education (P<0.001), years of experience (P<0.001), family history of diabetes and hypertension (P<0.001), sleep deprivation (P<0.001) were significantly associated with hypertention. More importantly, the stress levels did not show a significant association (P =0.317) with hypertension in the sample. The study revealed that gender, years of working, family history of the disease, and sleep deprivation significantly impacted the prevalence of hypertension among nurses at District General Hospital Horana. While most nurses experienced moderate levels of PSS it was found as not be associated with hypertension. These findings suggested a need of targeted interventions to reduce hypertension and to improve healthy sleep and overall health among nurses.