Prevalence and lifestyle-related risk factors of obesity and unrecognized hypertension among bus drivers in Ghana

Enoch Odame Anto; W K B A Owiredu; Eric Adua; Christian Obirikorang; Linda Ahenkorah Fondjo; Max Efui Annani-Akollor; Emmanuel Acheampong; Evans Adu Asamoah; Peter Roberts; Wei Wang; Sampson Donkor

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e03147

Prevalence and lifestyle-related risk factors of obesity and unrecognized hypertension among bus drivers in Ghana

Heliyon. 2020 Jan 6;6(1):e03147. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e03147. eCollection 2020 Jan.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine and Dentistry, College of Health Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
² School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Perth, WA, 6027, Australia.
³ School of Public Health, Taishan Medical University, Taian, Shandong, 271000, China.

Abstract

Obesity and hypertension are public health problems associated with cardiovascular events worldwide. Bus drivers, whose lifestyle is primarily sedentary and characterized by poor eating habits are at increased risk. This study determined the prevalence and lifestyle-related risk factors of obesity and hypertension among Inter-Regional Metromass Bus Drivers (IRMBDs) in Ghana. This cross-sectional study recruited 527 professional drivers from Metromass Bus stations in Accra and Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana. Structured questionnaires were administered to obtain socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics from all participants. Anthropometric measurements including body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and blood pressure (BP) were determined. The prevalence of unrecognized hypertension was 38.7%. The prevalence of obesity using BMI, WC, and WHR as obesity indices were 19.0%, 19.9%, and 19.4%, respectively. Use of sleep inhibitors, long-duration sitting and eating late at night were independent risk factors for obesity, regardless of the obesity index used (p < 0.05). Physical inactivity, high caloric intake and eating at stressful periods were independent risk factors for obesity based on WC and WHR measurements (p < 0.05). Ageing, smoking history, alcoholic beverage intake, sleep inhibitor drug use, high calorie intake, long-duration sitting, eating late and under stressful conditions were independent risk factors for hypertension (p < 0.05). There is a high prevalence of unrecognized hypertension and obesity among IRMBDs which were associated with individual lifestyle and behaviours. Increased awareness through educational and screening programs will trigger lifestyle modifications that will reduce cardio-metabolic disease onset and offer clues for better disease predictive, preventive and personalized medicine.

Keywords: Biochemistry; Biological sciences; Bus drivers; Clinical research; Ghana-Africa; Health sciences; Inter-regional; Lifestyle-related factors; Molecular biology; Obesity; Public health; Unrecognized hypertension.