International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health | December 2017 | Vol 4 | Issue 12 Page 4600 International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health Vijayakarthikeyan M et al. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2017 Dec;4(12):4600-4607 http://www.ijcmph.com pISSN 2394-6032 | eISSN 2394-6040 Original Research Article Cross-sectional study on the prevalence of risk factors for non- communicable disease in a rural area of Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu Vijayakarthikeyan M.*, Krishnakumar J., Umadevi R. INTRODUCTION In low income countries of the world the pattern of disease is changing at an alarming rate. 1 The changing behaviour of mankind have led to the increase of many diseases globally. Earlier communicable disease were the leading cause of death in most countries and currently, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are in the focus replacing communicable diseases. 2 Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are a medical condition or disease that is not caused by infectious agents (non-infectious or non-transmissible). The 4 main types of non-communicable diseases are cardiovascular ABSTRACT Background: Currently, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are in the limelight replacing communicable diseases, which were the leading cause of death in most countries. Non communicable disease is the leading cause of death globally. Non communicable diseases (NCDs) kill 38 million people each year. This study aims to estimate the prevalence rate of NCD risk factors among adult population and to determine the association between behavioural and metabolic risk factors. Methods: This is a cross sectional descriptive study carried out in the rural field practice area attached to a Medical college in Kancheepuram district. The study group were 370 adults (20-60 years). The data was collected using a structured questionnaire with the help of WHO steps approach containing socio-demographic particulars, details regarding NCD risk factors and physical measurements. Data was analysed using SPSS 15 software. Prevalence of NCD risk factors was calculated using percentages and strength of association was tested between behavioural and metabolic risk factors. Results: Prevalence of risk factors for non-communicable disease are tobacco use (17.8%), alcohol use (17.3%), physical inactivity (50.2%), unhealthy diet (62%), overweight (38.1%), obesity (11.4%), hypertension (15.7%), diabetes (21.9%) respectively. There was strong statistical significant association between obesity (odds ratio-3.057, p=0.020 at 95% confidence interval (0.915-10.211)), hypertension (odds ratio-23.062, p=0.001 at 95% confidence interval (3.147-168.989)), diabetes (odds ratio-6.837, p=0.001 at 95% confidence interval (2.085-22.417)) and alcohol use and also between obesity (odds ratio-2.637, p=0.004 at 95% confidence interval (0.787-8.83)), hypertension (odds ratio-2.773, p=0.019 at 95% confidence interval (1.145-6.714)) and tobacco use. Conclusions: The prevalence of non-communicable diseases risk factors is high in this study. It is necessary to minimize the burden of growing non-communicable disease epidemic in the society, by curbing the rates of the risky behaviours at a very early stage by lifestyle modification. Keywords: Adult, WHO steps, Lifestyle modification, Epidemic Department of Community Medicine, Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital, Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, India Received: 23 September 2017 Revised: 30 October 2017 Accepted: 31 October 2017 *Correspondence: Dr. Vijayakarthikeyan M, E-mail: vijaykarthikayenm.sal@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20175337