Clustering of cardiovascular disease risk-factors in semi-urban population in Northern Nigeria.

Introduction: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are major causes of morbidity and mortality particularly for developing countries. Large proportion of all NCDs deaths are occurring in low- and -middle-income countries are estimated to occur in people under 70-years-old. These low- and middle-income are undergoing epidemiological transition which allows the concomitant occurrence of both communicable and NCDs due to adoption of western life-style that predisposes them to development of these diseases. It is also known that there are risk-factors that tend to cluster in individuals and make them more susceptible to NCDs especially cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Among NCDs, CVDs constitute the largest share responsible for 48% of all deaths due to NCDs. To determine extend of clustering of these risk-factors in a semi-urban community in northern Nigeria, a population-based study was carried out.

Materials And Methods: This study was conducted in Dakace, a semi-urban settlement near Zaria. A simple random sampling of 199 eligible respondents out of 424 was adopted to select study participants. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic information, smoking habits, alcohol consumption as well as level of physical activity. The following measurements were carried out on these respondents: Blood pressure (BP), fasting blood glucose, serum lipids, weight, and height to calculate body mass index (BMI).

Results: There were of 199 participants: 94 males (47.2%) and 105 females (52.8%) with an overall mean age of 39.9 ± 15.6 years. About 20% had no risk factor; more females than males had risk-factors. Proportion of subjects with risk-factors increase with increasing BMI, particularly high BP; physical activity does not protect subjects from developing risk-factors.

Conclusion: This study clearly shows that CVD risk-factors are prevalent even in segment of the population that hitherto may be considered free and the prevalence of these risk-factors are high compared to some obtained from other part of Nigeria.