Prevalence of Risk Factors for Non-communicable Diseases in a Rural Setting of Dhaka, Bangladesh

The rise of non-communicable diseases and their impact in low- and middle-income countries has gained increased attention in recent years.A cross-sectional survey was carried out among 369 villagers to assess the prevalenceof risk factors for non-communicable diseases at Dhamrai, Dhaka. About 252(68.3%) respondents had knowledge regarding HTN, 247(66.9%) about DM, 193(52.3%) about cancer and among them more than fifty percent respondents gave opinion that smoking as the cause of non communicable disease.Regarding awareness of risk factors of HTN and DM more than sixty percent respondents gave opinion on age advancement,near fifty percent on familialand significant strongassociations were found between NCDs and the risk factors. About 258(39.3%) of the rural participants got information from television.Finally, the need for health system reform to strengthen primary care at rural setting is highlighted as a major policy to reduce the toll of this rising epidemic.