Cardiovascular risk factors in adult staff of Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia: a comparison with other Nigerian studies.

Changing lifestyle, driven by socio-economic trends, is changing the cardiovascular risk and disease profile in developing countries. We studied the cardiovascular risk factors of Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia hospital staff between 40 and 60 years. 297 members of hospital staff were consecutively recruited in October 2010. Data obtained include blood pressure, height and weight, body mass index (BMI), fasting blood sugar, serum cholesterol (total and differential) and serum triglyceride. The data were analysed using the SPSS package (version 10). The following prevalence levels were found: hypertension 37.5%, obesity 40.8%, diabetes mellitus 5.7%, hypercholesterolemia 18.1% and metabolic syndrome 24.7%. LDL, low HDL and elevated TG were elevated in 26.8%, 41.9% and 9.7% respectively. Only 2% had very low risk for cardiovascular disease.