Risk factors for non-communicable diseases in Bangladesh: Findings of the population-based cross-sectional national survey 2018

Objectives: To determine the national prevalence of risk factors of non-communicable diseases (NCD) in the adult population of Bangladesh.

Design: The study was a population-based national cross-sectional study.

Setting: This study used 496 primary sampling units (PSUs) developed by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. The PSUs were equally allocated to each division and urban and rural stratum within each division.

Participants: The participants were adults aged 18-69 years, who were usual residents of the households for at least six months, and stayed the night before the survey. Out of 9900 participants, 8185 (82.7%) completed STEP-1 and STEP-2, and 7208 took part in STEP-3.

Primary and secondary outcome: The prevalence of behavioral, physical, and biochemical risk factors of NCD. Data were weighted to generate national estimates.

Results: Tobacco use was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the rural (45.2%) than the urban (38.8%) population. Inadequate fruit/vegetab...