Abstract
BACKGROUND: Vietnam is experiencing an increasing prevalence of hypertension in its adult population. In addition to medical therapy, modifying adverse lifestyle practices is important for effective blood pressure control. There are limited data on unhealthy lifestyle practices in patients with chronic diseases, however, particularly among hypertensive patients living in rural Vietnam. Our study objectives were to examine the prevalence of unhealthy lifestyle practices and associated factors among rural Vietnamese adults with uncontrolled hypertension. METHODS: Data from the baseline survey of a cluster randomized trial among hypertensive Vietnamese adults (2017-2022) were utilized. Information on unhealthy lifestyle practices including smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, and inadequate fruit and vegetable intake was collected from study participants. The primary study outcome was having ≥2 unhealthy lifestyle practices. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to examine factors associated with the primary study outcome. RESULTS: The mean age of the 671 patients was 67 years and 45.0% were men. Nearly three out of every four participants had one or fewer unhealthy practices, 24.0% had two, and 3.3% had three or all four unhealthy lifestyle practices. Men, individuals who did unpaid work or were unemployed, and individuals with hypertension level III were more likely to have ≥2 unhealthy lifestyle practices, whereas individuals with higher education were less likely to have ≥2 unhealthy lifestyle practices compared with respective comparison groups. CONCLUSIONS: We observed a high prevalence of unhealthy lifestyle practices among rural Vietnamese patients with uncontrolled hypertension. Several demographic factors were associated with a greater number of unhealthy lifestyle practices. Newer interventions and educational programs encouraging lifestyle modification practices are needed to control hypertension among adults living in rural settings of Vietnam.