What happened to the distribution of the blood pressure and random blood glucose of the Indian adult population between 2015 and 2021?

Objective

To describe the change in mean and shape of the distributions of blood pressure (BP) and random blood glucose (RBG) of adults aged 15–49 between two consecutive rounds of the National Family Health Survey in India.

Study design and methods

We analyzed the data of adults aged 15–49 from the household datasets of NFHS 4 (2015–16) and 5 (2019–21). Both surveys used identical two-stage sampling and methodology. Three BP readings with 5-min intervals using a digital sphygmomanometer and FreeStyle Optium H (NFHS-4) or Accu-Chek Performa glucometer (NFHS-5) were used for RBG testing. Descriptive statistics and absolute change for BP and RBG were estimated, and mean-difference plots (m-d plots) were used to compare the distributions in the two surveys.

Results

We analyzed data of 1,207,535 and 767,454 adults aged 15–49 years for blood pressure and 1,295,357 and 799,833 for the glucose distribution from NFHS 5 and NFHS 4, respectively. The mean increase between the two surveys in SBP, DBP and RBG was 4.23 mmHg (95 % C.I. 4.20–4.28), 1.95 mmHg (95 % C.I. 1.92–1.98), and 7.43 mg/dL (95 % C.I. 7.35–7.51), respectively. The m-d plots showed a rightward shift in the distribution of SBP, DBP, and RBG in NFHS 5 compared to NFHS 4.

Conclusion

The increasing trend of mean blood pressure and blood glucose and the rightward shift of the blood pressure and blood glucose distributions calls for prioritizing the national and state-level strategies for preventing NCDs, with increased focus on implementing population-level interventions.