Screening of non-communicable diseases in outpatient department of government tertiary care hospital in Maharashtra: a cross-sectional study

Background: Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), also known as chronic diseases. A total of 55.4 million deaths occurred worldwide during 2019. Of these, 41 million were due to NCDs. Detection, screening, treatment and palliative care are key components of the response to NCDs. Objectives were to estimate the magnitude of non communicable diseases in patients attending government tertiary care hospital. To determine the association between non communicable diseases and socio demographic factors. To study the health seeking behavior for non communicable diseases. Methods: A hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in out patient department of a tertiary care hospital in Maharashtra. All eligible patients who attended the screening OPD for 2 months period were included in this study. Blood pressure, random blood sugar and BMI were checked. Females were screened for breast lesion with iBeastExam. Data was analysed for statistical significance using Chi square test. Results: Among the total 1241 individuals screened, 63.58% of population had at least one NCDs. Magnitude of hypertension, diabetes, obesity and breast lesion was 51.97%, 21.11%, 17.89% and 5.35% respectively. 41.55% of hypertensive and 23.28% of diabetic patients were newly diagnosed. 59.68% of hypertensive and 46.76% of diabetic patients were inadequately treated. Conclusions: The present study concluded that, even today a significant number of patients with NCDs remain unaware of their condition and a considerable percentage of them are not adequately treated.