Association of household fuel use with hypertension and blood pressure among adult women in rural Bangladesh: A cross‐sectional study
Md. Rabiul Islam, Nusrat Hossain Sheba, Ruhul Furkan Siddique, J. M. A. Hannan, Shakhaoat Hossain
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine the association of household fuel use with hypertension, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) among adult women. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey through face-to-face interviews and blood pressure (BP) measurement were conducted among 2182 randomly selected women (1236 solid fuel users and 946 clean fuel users) in rural areas of Bangladesh. RESULTS: Overall, 21% of women were hypertensive. Mean SBP and DBP for the study population were 121.27 mmHg (SD ± 15.43) and 76.18 mmHg (SD ± 12.00), respectively. Hypertension was found significantly (p = .006) higher among solid fuel users (23%) compared to clean fuel users (18%). Women using solid fuels have a 35% higher chance (AOR: 1.35, CI: 1.10-1.80) of having hypertension and have more than twice the risk of developing elevated SBP (AOR: 2.01, CI: 1.55-2.95) relative to women using clean fuels for their daily cooking. The probability of hypertension (AOR: 1.39, CI: 1.17-1.60) and elevated SBP (AOR: 1.35, CI: 1.10-1.61) increased significantly for every hour of fuel use. CONCLUSIONS: Using clean fuel, reducing the duration of daily cooking time, and improved cooking facilities may help minimizing hypertension and ultimately cardiovascular disease risk among women.