Modifiable cardiovascular risk factors among apparently healthy adult Nigerian population - a cross sectional study

Three hundred subjects (129 males and 171 females) with a mean age of 37.6 ± 10.6 (range 18-75) years were studied. Prevalence of the modifiable cardiovascular risk factors screened for were as follows: generalized obesity 21.3% (males 10.9%, females 29.2%, p < 0.05), truncal obesity 43.7% (males 12.4%, females 67.3%, p < 0.05), hypertension 25.7% (males 27.9, females 24%, p > 0.05), type 2 diabetes mellitus 5.3% (males 5.4%, females 5.3%, p > 0.05), hypercholesterolaemia 28.3% (males 23.3%, females 32.2%, p < 0.05), elevated LDL-cholesterol 25.7% (males 28%, females 24%, p > 0.05), low HDL-cholesterol 59.3% (males 51.9%, females 65%, p < 0.05), hypertriglyceridaemia 15% (males 16.3%, females 14%, p > 0.05) and metabolic syndrome 22% (males 10.9%, females 30.4%, p < 0.05).We found high prevalence of CVD risk factors among apparently healthy adult Nigerians. In order to reduce this high prevalence and prevent subsequent cardiovascular events, encouragement of a healthy lifestyle is suggested.Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains a major cause of morbidity and a leading contributor to mortality worldwide. The World Health Report 1999 estimates that in 1998, 78% of the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and 85% of the CV burden arose from the low and middle income countries. The CVD burden afflicts both men and women, with CV deaths accounting for 34% of all deaths in women and 28% in men in 1998[1]. As the epidemics advance, the social gradient also reverses with the poor becoming the most vulnerable victims in both developed and developing countries [2].The high burdens of CVD in the developing countries are attributable to the increasing incidence of atherosclerotic diseases, perhaps due to urbanization and higher risk factor levels (such as obesity, diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension), the relatively early age at which they manifest, the large sizes of the population, and the high proportion of individuals who are young adults or middle-aged in these count