The burden of diabetes and hypertension on healthy life expectancy in Bangladesh

Abstract

Diabetes and hypertension are among the leading causes of death in Bangladesh. This study examined hypertension, diabetes, and either or both, free life expectancy, to measure the effect of the diseases on the overall health of individuals in Bangladesh with regional variations. We utilized data from Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics 2018 for mortality and Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2017–2018 for diabetes and hypertension. The Sullivan method was employed to estimate age-specific hypertension and diabetes-free life expectancy. Altogether, 10.3% of the people aged 18–19 years lived with either diabetes or hypertension. The hypertension-free life expectancy was 40.4 years, and the diabetes-free life expectancy was 53.2 years for those aged 15–19. Overall, individuals would expect to spend 38.7% of their lives with either of the diseases. Females suffered more from hypertension and males from diabetes. Still, females suffered more from the aggregate of both. Rural people had more diabetes and hypertension-free life expectancy than those of urban. Individuals of Mymensingh had the highest life expectancy free of both diseases compared to other divisions of Bangladesh. Diabetes and hypertension affect a considerable proportion of the life of the population in Bangladesh. Policy actions are needed to guide the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of both diseases, specifically focusing on women and urban populations. Widespread health-enhancing actions need to be taken to diminish the effect of these two diseases in Bangladesh.