Analysis of Risk Factors for Hypertension in Ship Crews of Seaports Work Coverage for Poso Port Health Office, Bungku Working Area

Objective: Ship crew as seafarers who work or are employed on board the ship by the owner or operator of the ship to carry out their duties following their position will have limitations in accessing health education, facilities, and infrastructure that support them to maintain their health. One of the non-communicable diseases that contributes to cardiovascular diseases is hypertension. This study aims to determine the risk factors related to the prevalence of hypertension in ship crew at Seaport work coverage for Poso Port Health Office, Bungku Working Area. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study with a sample size of 385 participant involve in data analysis. Chi-square analysis was employed to assess the relationship between respondent characteristic variables and independent variables concerning the occurrence of hypertension. Multivariate analysis was conducted on variables that showed an association with hypertension to obtain independent risk values using logistic regression analysis. This research used a 95% confidence level. Results: The prevalence of hypertension in ship crew is 12.73%. Logistic regression results showed that the crew members had an overweight (AOR=15.93, 95%CI: 5.080-49.981, p=0.000) and moderate and heavy smokers among crew members (AOR=2.51, 95%CI: 1.038-6.066), p=0.021) were factors associated with the prevalence of hypertension in ships crew members of hypertension in ships crew members after controlled by aged over 45 years (AOR=22.94; 95% CI: 2.587-203.477, p=0.005) and family history of hypertension (AOR=6.01; 95% CI: 2.741-13.168, p=0.000). Conclusions: Body mass index and smoking behavior among ship crew members are significant risk factors for hypertension in this study, while alcohol consumption and workplace-related environmental stress were not found to be significant risk factors in this research Implication of the research: This research can serve as a reference for determining health programs and more specific priority groups targeted for the prevention and control of hypertension among ship crew members on board. Originality: This study was conducted on ship crew members, legally active seafarers in the operational tasks on ship, whereas most similar research uses the health data of seafarers in healthcare clinics.