Prevalence of arterial hypertension in Vietnamese seafarers aboard merchant vessels: a cross-sectional study

Background: Hypertension is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality globally. It is a major riskfactor for major cardiovascular events such as stroke, myocardial infarction, heart failure, kidney failure,and blindness. The aim of this research is to assess the prevalence and some factors related to arterialhypertension on Vietnamese seafarers aboard merchant vessels.Materials and methods: Seven hundred eight Vietnamese seafarers working aboard merchant ships wereexamined at the Institute of Marine Medicine before going to sea during the period from January 2022to December 2022. It was a cross-sectional descriptive epidemiological study. The following parameterswere measured: blood pressure, height, weight, waist circumference, buttock circumference to assess theprevalence of hypertension, overweight, and obesity. Seafarers we directly interviewed about workplaceon ships and physical exercise, smoking tobacco, alcohol abuse, and anxiety symptoms to identify severalfactors associated with hypertension.Results: The prevalence of hypertension in seafarers was 32.9%, prehypertension 26.4%, overweight32.4%, obesity 13.3%, abdominal obesity 47.7%. Factors related to hypertension of seafarers included: jobduration at sea > 10 years, odds ratio (OR) = 8.23 (95% confidence interval [CI] 4.34–17.27); non-officers,OR = 2.11 (95% CI 1.45–2.82); engine room crew, OR = 2.11 (95% CI 1.45–3.58); obesity, OR = 3.34(95% CI 2.15–5.63); abdominal obesity, OR = 9.12 (95% CI 4.23–18.45); current smoking, OR = 1.32(95% CI 1.02–1.99); irregular exercise, OR =1.43 (95% CI 1.03–2.18); anxiety symptoms, OR = 1.56 (95%CI 1.08–2.27).Conclusions: Hypertension is a health problem for Vietnamese seafarers. To minimise hypertension, seafarersneed to adjust their lifestyle, increase regular exercise and improve psychological issues on board