Prevalence of Hypertension and its Association with Body Mass Index and Waist to Hip Circumference Ratio among Nepal Police Officers

Introduction: Hypertension is a challenge faced by almost 2 billion people worldwide and it is a major non-communicable disease in Nepal. Early detection and optimal control of blood pressure with medicine and life style modification reduces end-organ damage and mortality. Nepal Police Officers work in multidimensional work environment with significant risk factors to develop hypertension. However, the prevalence of hypertension in this population has never been studied. Thus the principal aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and its association with risk factors such as body mass index and waist-hip ratio. Methods: This retrospective, observational study conducted on in-service police officers of Nepal Police Organization studied the prevalence of hypertension and its association with the risk factors, mainly Body mass index and waist to hip circumference. Data was collected from 580 police personals between March 2024 to April 2024. The primary outcome was to find the prevalence of Hypertension. Results: This study shows a significantly lower prevalence of hypertension (14.48%) among police officers than that of the general population (29.36%). There was a statistically significant association of hypertension with a high body mass index (p-value=0.0236) and with a high waist to hip ratio (p-value=0.0168). Older age group of above 35 and male gender also had a higher prevalence of hypertension with 22.44% and 17.48% prevalence respectively. Conclusion: Hypertension prevalence among Nepal police officers is significantly low than that of the general population. There was a significantly significant association of Hypertension with high Waist to hip ratio and Body mass index.