Table 2.
Unadjusted prevalence of overweight and obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and lifestyle risk factor categories among study participants
|
Total (N=28 891) |
Karonga (rural; n=13 878)* |
Lilongwe (urban; n=15 013)* |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men (n=11 062) | Women (n=17 829) | Men (n=5849) | Women (n=8029) | Men (n=5213) | Women (n=9800) | |||
| Overweight and obesity | ||||||||
| BMI, kg/m2 | ||||||||
| <18·0 | 563 (5%) | 584 (3%) | 349 (6%) | 356 (5%) | 214 (4%) | 228 (2%) | ||
| 18·0–24·9 | 9000 (81%) | 10 042 (56%) | 4964 (85%) | 5103 (68%) | 4036 (77%) | 4939 (53%) | ||
| 25·0–29·9 | 1227 (11%) | 3908 (22%) | 462 (8%) | 1467 (20%) | 765 (15%) | 2441 (26%) | ||
| ≥30·0 | 255 (2%) | 2245 (13%) | 59 (1%) | 571 (8%) | 196 (4%) | 1674 (18%) | ||
| Unknown or pregnant | 17 (<1%) | 1050 (6%) | 15 (<1%) | 532 (7%) | 2 (<1%) | 518 (5%) | ||
| Waist-to-hip ratio† | ||||||||
| Normal | 9019 (82%) | 10 597 (59%) | 4659 (80%) | 3527 (47%) | 4360 (84%) | 7070 (76%) | ||
| High | 2030 (18%) | 6191 (35%) | 1178 (20%) | 3980 (53%) | 852 (16%) | 2211 (24%) | ||
| Unknown or pregnant | 13 (<1%) | 1041 (6%) | 12 (<1%) | 522 (7%) | 1 (<1%) | 519 (6%) | ||
| Mean BMI‡ | 22·0 (3·2) | 24·5 (5·0) | 21·6 (2·8) | 23·4 (4·3) | 22·4 (3·5) | 25·4 (5·3) | ||
| Mean waist-to-hip ratio‡ | 0·85 (0·06) | 0·83 (0·07) | 0·86 (0·05) | 0·86 (0·07) | 0·84 (0·16) | 0·81 (0·07) | ||
| Hypertension | ||||||||
| Blood pressure: systolic/diastolic, mm Hg | ||||||||
| Normal or low: <140/90 | 9413 (85%) | 15 368 (86%) | 5060 (87%) | 6924 (86%) | 4353 (84%) | 8444 (86%) | ||
| Mild hypertension: 140/90–159/99 | 970 (9%) | 989 (6%) | 492 (8%) | 452 (6%) | 478 (9%) | 537 (5%) | ||
| Moderate hypertension: 160/100–179/109 | 281 (3%) | 380 (2%) | 135 (2%) | 179 (2%) | 146 (3%) | 201 (2%) | ||
| Severe hypertension: ≥180/110 | 88 (1%) | 199 (1%) | 33 (1%) | 88 (1%) | 55 (1%) | 111 (1%) | ||
| On medication | 307 (3%) | 882 (5%) | 127 (2%) | 382 (5%) | 180 (3%) | 500 (5%) | ||
| Unknown | 3 (<1%) | 11 (<1%) | 2 (<1%) | 4 (<1%) | 1 (<1%) | 7 (<1%) | ||
| Mean systolic, mm Hg‡ | 125·9 (15·8) | 120·2 (18·2) | 124·3 (15·6) | 118·9 (19·0) | 127·8 (15·7) | 121·3 (17·4) | ||
| Mean diastolic, mm Hg§ | 73·6 (10·9) | 73·3 (10·8) | 73·0 (10·3) | 72·6 (10·6) | 74·0 (11·5) | 73·8 (11·0) | ||
| Previous diagnosis of hypertension¶ | 636 (6%) | 1928 (11%) | 225 (4%) | 656 (8%) | 411 (8%) | 1272 (13%) | ||
| Diabetes | ||||||||
| Fasting blood glucose, mmol/L | ||||||||
| <6·1 | 8618 (78%) | 14 466 (81%) | 4868 (83%) | 6913 (86%) | 3750 (72%) | 7553 (77%) | ||
| 6·1–6·9 | 97 (1%) | 168 (1%) | 52 (1%) | 79 (1%) | 45 (1%) | 89 (1%) | ||
| ≥7·0 | 92 (1%) | 141 (1%) | 43 (1%) | 55 (1%) | 49 (1%) | 86 (1%) | ||
| Previous diagnosis of diabetes | 125 (1%) | 208 (1%) | 41 (1%) | 69 (1%) | 84 (2%) | 139 (2%) | ||
| On medication | 88 (1%) | 139 (1%) | 33 (1%) | 47 (1%) | 55 (1%) | 92 (1%) | ||
| No medication | 37 (<1%) | 69 (<1%) | 8 (<1%) | 22 (<1%) | 29 (<1%) | 47 (<1%) | ||
| Unknown | 2130 (19%) | 2846 (16%) | 845 (14%) | 913 (11%) | 1285 (25%) | 1933 (20%) | ||
| Mean fasting blood glucose, mmol/L** | 4·7 (1·2) | 4·8 (1·3) | 4·7 (1·2) | 4·7 (1·9) | 4·8 (1·3) | 4·8 (1·3) | ||
| Number of conditions (hypertension, obesity, or diabetes) | ||||||||
| None | 7410 (67%) | 10 742 (60%) | 4262 (85%) | 5382 (80%) | 3148 (80%) | 5360 (71%) | ||
| One | 1304 (12%) | 2695 (15%) | 668 (13%) | 1058 (16%) | 636 (16%) | 1637 (23%) | ||
| Two | 202 (2%) | 655 (4%) | 64 (1%) | 219 (3%) | 138 (4%) | 436 (6%) | ||
| Three | 21 (<1%) | 110 (1%) | 4 (<1%) | 27 (<1%) | 17 (<1%) | 83 (1%) | ||
| Unknown | 2125 (19%) | 3627 (20%) | 851 (15%) | 1343 (17%) | 1274 (33%) | 2284 (23%) | ||
| Lifestyle | ||||||||
| Physical activity (WHO recommendation25) | ||||||||
| Did not meet | 676 (6%) | 380 (2%) | 245 (4%) | 187 (2%) | 431 (8%) | 193 (2%) | ||
| Met recommended | 10 386 (94%) | 17 449 (98%) | 5604 (96%) | 7842 (98%) | 4782 (92%) | 9607 (98%) | ||
| Unknown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Smoking | ||||||||
| Not current | 9801 (89%) | 17 791 (>99%) | 5060 (87%) | 8015 (>99%) | 4741 (91%) | 9776 (>99%) | ||
| Current | 1261 (11%) | 38 (<1%) | 789 (14%) | 14 (<1%) | 472 (9%) | 24 (<1%) | ||
| Unknown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Alcohol consumption | ||||||||
| Not in last year | 6667 (60%) | 16 929 (95%) | 3394 (58%) | 7739 (96%) | 3273 (63%) | 9190 (94%) | ||
| In last year | 4395 (34%) | 900 (5%) | 2455 (42%) | 290 (4%) | 1940 (37%) | 610 (6%) | ||
| Unknown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Sugary drinks intake, estimated teaspoons of sugar per day | ||||||||
| Fewer than six | 5152 (47%) | 9894 (55%) | 2659 (49%) | 4544 (64%) | 2493 (56%) | 5350 (64%) | ||
| Six or more | 4719 (43%) | 5536 (31%) | 2764 (51%) | 2531 (36%) | 1955 (44%) | 3005 (36%) | ||
| Unknown | 1191 (11%) | 2399 (13%) | 426 (7%) | 954 (12%) | 765 (15%) | 1445 (15%) | ||
| Average daily per capita plain salt usage in household | ||||||||
| <2·5 g | 1874 (17%) | 1855 (10%) | 1274 (22%) | 1150 (15%) | 600 (12%) | 705 (7%) | ||
| 2·5–5·0 g | 3556 (32%) | 6620 (37%) | 1501 (26%) | 2518 (32%) | 2055 (40%) | 4102 (42%) | ||
| 5·1–7·5 g | 2768 (25%) | 4943 (28%) | 1278 (22%) | 1914 (24%) | 1490 (22%) | 3029 (31%) | ||
| >7·5 g | 2761 (25%) | 4286 (24%) | 1707 (30%) | 2330 (29%) | 1054 (20%) | 1956 (20%) | ||
| Unknown | 103 (1%) | 125 (1%) | 89 (2%) | 117 (1%) | 14 (<1%) | 8 (<1%) | ||
Data are n (%) and mean (SD). p values for differences between male and female participants are presented for continuous variables only. Overweight is defined as BMI of 25·0–29·9 kg/m2 and obesity as BMI ≥30·0 kg/m2. Hypertension is defined as systolic blood pressure ≥140 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mm Hg, or self-reported current antihypertensive medication use, with in-study blood pressure reading required. Diabetes is defined as fasting blood glucose of ≥7·0 mmol/L or self-report of a previous diagnosis of diabetes by a health professional, regardless of whether or not the participant was taking antidiabetic medication.
Missing data (unknown) are presented as number and percentage of enrolled participants, and are excluded from the denominator for the calculation of the rural and urban prevalence estimates.
High waist-to-hip ratio defined as ≥0·95 for male participants and ≥0·85 for female participants.
p value for difference in mean BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, and systolic blood pressure between men and women was <0·0001 in the total population, Karonga (rural), and Lilongwe (urban).
p value for difference in mean diastolic blood pressure between men and women was 0·059 in the total population, 0·017 in Karonga (rural), and 0·21 in Lilongwe (urban).
Calculated on full dataset.
p value for difference in mean fasting blood glucose between men and women was 0·75 in the total population, 0·63 in Karonga (rural), and 0·40 in Lilongwe (urban).