Geographical differentials in Hypertension and Diabetes among Indian Population
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56450/JEFI.2026.v4i01.007Keywords:
Hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus, Noncommunicable Diseases, Epidemiology, Health Surveys, India, Health Status DisparitiesAbstract
Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) represent the world's largest public health challenge, causing 43 million deaths globally in 2021 — 75% of all non-pandemic-related deaths. India bears a disproportionate share, contributing ~14.5% of global NCD deaths, with mortality from NCDs rising sharply from 37.9% in 1990 to 61.8% in 2016. Key contributors include cardiovascular diseases and stroke (45%), chronic respiratory diseases (22%), cancers (12%), and diabetes (3%). Aims & Objectives: To examine the prevalence and trends of diabetes and hypertension across regional, state, and district levels in India using national survey data. Methodology: Secondary data from NFHS-4 and NFHS-5 were analysed to assess the distribution and burden of hypertension and diabetes at sub-national levels, accounting for socio-economic, demographic, and epidemiological variations. Descriptive statistics, including bivariate and multivariate analyses, were performed to examine the prevalence and associated factors of NCDs. Results: Both high blood sugar and high blood pressure showed increasing prevalence across successive national health surveys. Despite over 220 million estimated hypertensives in India, only 12% had blood pressure under control. Significant regional and state-level disparities were identified. Conclusion: Sub-national analysis is essential for designing context-specific NCD interventions. District-level data enables policymakers to prioritise resources and address the diverse socio-cultural and epidemiological drivers of NCDs across India.
Downloads
References
1. World Health Organization. Global status report on noncommunicable diseases. Geneva: WHO; 2024.
2. Ramamoorthy T, Leburu S, Kulothungan V, Mathur P. Regional estimates of noncommunicable diseases associated risk factors among adults in India: results from National Noncommunicable Disease Monitoring Survey. BMC Public Health. 2022;22(1):1069. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13466-5
3. Kearney PM, Whelton M, Reynolds K, Muntner P, Whelton PK, He J. Global burden of hypertension: analysis of worldwide data. Lancet. 2005;365(9455):217–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(05)17741-1
4. Negi PC, Chauhan R, Rana V, Lal VK. Epidemiological study of noncommunicable diseases (NCD) risk factors in tribal district of Kinnaur, HP: a cross-sectional study. Indian Heart J. 2016;68(5):655–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ihj.2016.03.002
5. International Diabetes Federation. IDF Diabetes Atlas. 10th ed. Brussels: IDF; 2021.
6. Ramachandran A, Snehalatha C, Baskar AD, Mary S, Kumar CK, Selvam S, et al. Temporal changes in prevalence of diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance associated with lifestyle transition occurring in the rural population in India. Diabetologia. 2004;47(5):860–5. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-004-1387-6
7. Joshi R, Cardona M, Iyengar S, Sukumar A, Raju CR, Raju KR, et al. Chronic diseases now a leading cause of death in rural India: mortality data from the Andhra Pradesh Rural Health Initiative. Int J Epidemiol. 2006;35(6):1522–9. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyl168
8. International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) and ICF. National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019–21: India. Mumbai: IIPS; 2022.
9. Lim SS, Vos T, Flaxman AD, Danaei G, Shibuya K, Adair-Rohani H, et al. A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributable to 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet. 2012;380(9859):2224–60. https://doi.org/10.3410/f.719894684.793533485
10. Hosseinpoor AR, Bergen N, Mendis S, Harper S, Verdes E, Kunst A, et al. Socioeconomic inequality in the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries: results from the World Health Survey. BMC Public Health. 2012;12:474. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-474
11. Rehm J, Shield KD. Global burden of disease and the impact of mental and addictive disorders. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2019;21(2):10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-019-0997-0
12. Indian Council of Medical Research; Public Health Foundation of India; Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. India: Health of the Nation’s States — The India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative. New Delhi: ICMR; 2017.
13. Mohan V, Pradeepa R. Epidemiology of diabetes in different regions of India. Health Adm. 2009;21(1–2):1–18.
14. Mote BN. A regional epidemiology of India’s NCD risk factors focusing particularly on Maharashtra: a call for health promotion once again. Int J Med Public Health. 2016;6(1):26–30. https://doi.org/10.4103/2230-8598.179756
15. Government of India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Operational guidelines on prevention, screening and control of common noncommunicable diseases: hypertension, diabetes and common cancers (oral, breast, cervix). New Delhi: National Health Mission; 2016
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Rajan Kumar Gupt, Chayan Roy Chaudhury, Ambey Kumar Srivastava
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
This means that you are free to:
- Share, copy, and redistribute the article in any medium or format
- Adapt, remix, transform, and build upon the article
as long as you provide appropriate credit to the original work, include the authors' names, article title, journal name, and indicate that the work is licensed under CC BY. Any use of the material should not imply endorsement by the authors or the journal.
