Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine (Aug 2023)
Smoking behavior and hypertension among health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a case study in Java and Bali-Indonesia
Abstract
BackgroundHealth workers who should be role models for the community not to smoke and live a healthy life are still consuming cigarettes. Java and Bali (especially Java) are the biggest contributors to health worker deaths due to COVID-19 in Indonesia. This study aims to determine the association of smoking behavior and hypertension among health workers in Java and Bali. The researchers conducted this study in 2021 and designed it with a cross-sectional design. Data was collected online using the Lime Survey as a data collection tool. The data analysis used was logistic regression to determine the association of smoking and hypertension.ResultA number of 7.6% of health workers were still smoking and 10.4% were suffering from hypertension during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study shows that the proportion of health workers with hypertension is two times that of smokers (18.0%) compared to non-smokers (9.8%). Logistic regression showed that smoking has a 20% higher risk of developing hypertension (OR = 1.97; 95%CI = 1.01–1.41; p = 0.034).ConclusionAmong health workers on the islands of Java and Bali, there are still many who smoke, and this puts them at a higher risk of experiencing hypertension.
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