Background: Higher than national rates of non-communicable diseases have been found in some urban slums of India. This has been attributed to potentially lower levels of education and decreased access to preventative care. We sought to assess the prevalence of NCDs in a Mumbai slum compared to national averages and understand the association with social determinants of health.Methods: We used a screening toolkit called THULSI (Toolkit for Healthy Urban Life in Slums Initiative) in a community health-camp setting to screen 266 slum dwellers for obesity (BMI above 25 kg/m2), elevated blood pressure (SBP > 120 mm of Hg and DBP > 80 mm of Hg), and elevated blood glucose (RPG > 200 mg/dL). A health survey was administered to understand the demographic data and information about health-seeking behavior of the slum dwellers. The collected data was analyzed to determine the prevalence of each condition and associations with different social determinants of health such as literacy and education level, diagnosis and marital status, age, gender, place of care, employment, availability of toilet, and languages spoken. Results: Of the screened population, 72.6% had elevated blood pressure, 9.0% had elevated blood glucose, 63.2% were obese, and 12.4% were overweight. These rates were 2.81, 1.04, and 3.84 times higher than the national averages, respectively. Of the study population, 26.7% had one condition, 53.4% had two conditions, and 7.9% had all the three conditions we screened for. Male gender (OR: 3.33, 95% CI: 1.37, 8.07) and older age (35-49 years OR: 3.03, 95% CI: 1.52, 6.05, 49-63 years OR: 7.22, 95% CI: 3.06, 17.05, >= 63 years OR: 6.82, 95% CI: 2.12, 22.00) were associated with increased odds of elevated blood pressure, not being previous diagnosed (OR: 0.04, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.13) was associated with lower odds of elevated blood glucose, and older age (35-49 years OR: 2.51, 95% CI: 1.21, 5.21, 49-63 years OR: 4.95, 95% CI: 2.06, 11.92) was associated with increased odds of obesity.Conclusion: We found higher than national rates of the NCDs and high comorbidity in the screened slum population of Mumbai. This signifies the need for screening services and the importance of awareness and education in this population.
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