Title: Age and cardiovascular risks in a market population in Southeast Nigeria
Authors: Innocent Chukwuemeka Okoye, Ernest Ndukaife Anyabolu, Sylvia Toochukwu Echendu, Chinyelu Uchenna Ufoaroh, Desmond Onyebuchukwu Ekeh, Anulika Nkechinyere Chukwumobi, Esther N Umeadi
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v10i3.01
Abstract
Background: Globally, cardiovascular risks constitute a heavy healthcare burden, affecting people of different ages in both the developed and the developing ones. Cardiovascular risks and differences in age have not been completely defined.
Objectives: This study was set out to evaluate the influence of age on the risks of cardiovascular disease in Awka, Nigeria.
Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in an unstructured market workers’ population. The subjects were classified according to their age and screened for cardiovascular risks. The cardiovascular risks were compared between the different age groups.
Results: The study subjects were 294. Females were 72.1% and males 27.9%. Their mean age was 43.13 ± 15.38 years, body mass index (BMI) 28.1 ± 6.0kg/m2), systolic blood pressure (SBP) 129.3 ± 23.7mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) 82.6 ± 14.7mmHg Majority (98.6%) of the study subjects were Igbos, whereas only 1.4% were Hausas. Tobacco prevalence was 5.4%. Those in the age group of 50-59 years had the highest prevalence of tobacco use (37.5%), followed by those of 30-39 years (25.0%) and 60-69 years (25.0%), p=0.026.Thickened arterial wall had a prevalence of 27.2%. It was high, 42.5%, in those aged 50-59 years, followed by 25.0% in those 60-69 years, p<0.001.Nighttime sleep duration (NTSD)<4hours had a prevalence of 5.4%. Those in the age groups of 30-39 years and 60-69 years had a prevalence of 37.5% of NTSD<4 hours, p=0.002.The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) was 9.5%. The subjects in the age group of 50-59 years had the highest prevalence of DM of 50.0%, followed by 35.7% in those aged 60-69 years, p<0.001. The prevalence of GSM night use was 63.3%. In those aged 20-29 years it was high 25.8% but declined with increasing age, p=0.001. Underweight had a prevalence of 34.0% and occurred in 33.5% of the subjects aged 30-39 years, 50-59 years and 70-79 years. The prevalence of overweight was 28.8% and tended to decline with increasing age. However, obesity increased with age, and was high, 30.0%, in those in the age group of 30-39 years, but declined with increasing age, p=0.002.SBP had a prevalence of 41.5%. SBP of 32.8% was high among the subjects aged 50-59 years, increasing with age initially, p<0.001.The prevalence of DBP was 32.7%, and increased with age to peak at 50-59 years (31.3%), but declined at age >50-59 years, p<0.001.Cigarette smoking p=0.820, alcohol use, p=o.274, and seaster, p=0.210, had insignificant association with age.
Conclusion: The prevalence of tobacco use, thickened arterial wall, diabetes mellitus, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure was high among those in the age group 50-59 years, whereas nighttime sleep duration <4 hours, underweight and obesity was high among those aged 30-39years. GSM midnight use was common among those aged 20-29years in this study.
Keywords: Age, Tobacco, Thickened arterial wall, Diabetes mellitus, Hypertension, Nighttime sleep deprivation, Obesity.
