[Regarding the article titled: Control of hypertension among teachers in schools in Kerala (CHATS-K), India, Indian Heart Journal, June 2020]
This letter is in response to the letter by Aayush Visaria et al on our article titled “Control of hypertension among teachers in schools in Kerala (CHATS-K), India” published in Indian Heart Journal in June 2020. We thank you for your interest in our article. The participants in our study were school teachers aged 30–55 years with a mean age of 44 years (women 84%) limiting the generalizability of our findings to other population groups. Tobacco and alcohol use were reported only among men teachers similar to the general population of Kerala where use of tobacco and alcohol are rare among women. However, the low prevalence of hypertension in our population was mostly because of the lower age group of the population.
The control rate of hypertension in the study (34%) was higher compared to the findings from other low and middle income settings and significantly higher than the hypertension control rate of 13.4% in the general population of Kerala. There is a potential for involving teachers and students in improving hypertension control rates among the general population using the platform of parent teachers association where there is an opportunity of interaction between the teachers and the parents/grant parents of the students. The students can also be educated on the importance of adherence to anti-hypertensive medication and other lifestyle modifications for controlling hypertension among their parents and grant parents.
GK Mini, K R Thankappan.