Prevalence of Hypertension and Its Determinants Among the Female Informal Workers (15 to 49 Years) in India with Reference to NFHS 5

Introduction The informal job sectors in India, comprising the majority of the national workforce, pose a greater hindrance to their workers, both economically in terms of wage discrepancies and income volatility, and health-wise in terms of a poor work environment, lack of access to healthcare facilities, and exposure to various occupational health hazards. Female informal workers, in particular, are at greater risk of developing critical health complications due to the multifaceted nature of their livelihood and health barriers. In this view, while incidences of cardiovascular complications such as hypertension are surging, the present cross-sectional study attempts to examine the trend of hypertension and identify its determinants among the female workers in the informal sectors in India. Methods The present study took an analytical sample of 23,655 female informal workers of 29 Indian states from the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) data. Data analyses were performed with descriptive statistics and tests of association for the explanatory and outcome variables. The variables at the individual-level, household-level, community-level, and occupational level were considered for multi-level binary logistic regression to identify the determinants of hypertension. Results Among the female informal sector workers, the majority belonged to the poorest section (49.8%) of the society, who also mostly occupied agricultural (66.0%) and construction (12.6%) work. The prevalence of hypertension among the workers was 12.6%, the state of Sikkim (45.0%) showing the highest, and Bihar (7.0%) showing the lowest prevalence rate. The workers who are older [OR=7.322; 95% CI 6.165-8.696; p<0.001] and perform occasional work [OR=1.228; 95% CI 1.005-1.500; p<0.001] have a significantly greater susceptibility to develop hypertension. In contrast, the workers from rural sectors [OR=0.885; 95% CI 0.788-0.995; p<0.001] showed a lower odds for the same. Conclusion The major highlights of the study were to identify the effects of age, religion, place of living, and even mode of employment to be significant contributors to hypertension among the female informal workers. It strongly suggests implementing strategic interventions at both the community and workplace levels to mitigate the rise of hypertension among female informal workers.