Hypertension the most common diagnosis in India

 12-Nov-15, The Indian Express 

One of the largest and first-of-its kind studies to assess ‘What Ails India’ has found that fever is the most common reason that leads patients to visit doctors. The study, based on analyses of 5,54,146 ailments reported in 2,04,912 patients’ visits has also revealed that hypertension is the most common diagnosis reported by physicians in India. This apart, respiratory problems are another major reason for visits to doctors.

Image: The Indian Express

Published in The Lancet Global Health, the Prevalence of Symptoms on a Single Indian Healthcare Day on a Nationwide Scale (POSEIDON) study was conducted across the country on February 1, 2011.

“We randomly selected 12,000 general practitioners, general physicians, and paediatricians from 880 cities and towns and invited them to record demographic details, symptoms and medical conditions for every patient they saw on Feb 1, 2011. An additional 1,250 physicians were requested to be a part of this study and eventually 13,250 doctors from across India participated in this study. On one day, all physicians kept a record of every single patient they saw in their clinic and data was later analysed," said Dr Sundeep Salvi, Director of Chest Research Foundation.

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