Risk assessment of noncommunicable diseases among tribal adults forty years and above in a rural block of Birbhum, West Bengal.

Context: Noncommunicable disease (NCD) risk factors are on the rise and often linked to the adoption of modern lifestyles. There have been a rapid social and economic transitions in last 3-4 decades. This study explores NCD risk in a rapidly modernizing indigenous population in West Bengal, the Santhal tribe of a rural block of Birbhum. Aims: To estimate the prevalence of behavioural and biological risk factors of NCD and to predict the risk of study participants of developing NCD. Settings and Design: It is a community based observational study, cross-sectional in design. Methods and Material: The study was conducted among 306 tribal people aged above 40 years selected by multistage cluster random sampling using WHO-STEPS instrument. Statistical Analysis Used: Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were performed to explore the determinants of risk factors. WHO-ISH2020, IDRS tool and CAT questionnaire are used for risk assessment. Results: The prevalence of current tobacco and alcohol use were 48.7% and 19.6%, respectively. 91.5% consumed unhealthy diet and 7.5% have low physical activity. Odds of tobacco[AOR: 6.69 (3.93-11.39)] and alcohol[AOR: 14.69 (6.57-33.70)] use were significantly raised among men and increased age of the participants. Odds of abdominal obesity were higher among older participants and female [AOR 9.03 (3.45-25)]. Older age group have more risk of hypertension [AOR: 3.85 (1.82-7.69)], hypercholesteremia [AOR: 1.70 (1.01-3,52)] and physical inactivity [AOR: 6.29 (2.34-16.87)]. Conclusions: Most of the behavioural and biological risk factors of NCDs were quite high among tribal population which may be reduced by increasing awareness about NCDs through locally accepted and culturally appropriate strategies.