Latest by health experts have revealed that men in the Southeast Nigeria are the highest at risk of suffering hypertension in the country.
The study revealed that hypertension accounts for 13.2% of heart attacks and 24.6% of strokes. With variations across different age, sex groups, and regions.
In the study, researchers checked for the population-attributable fractions (PAF) for heart attack, all strokes, ischaemic stroke, and intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke attributable to hypertension in Nigeria using results from the INTERHEART and INTERSTROKE studies.
They found that in men older than 55 years, hypertension accounts for myocardial infarction in 11.7 percent (North-West) to 14.6 percent (South-East). While in older men, it spanned 9.2 percent (North-West) to 11.9 percent (South-East).
Among women aged older than 65 years, it varied from 18.6 percent (South-South) to 20.8 percent (South-East and North-Central). And among women less than 65 years, it ranged from 10.4 percent (South-South) to 12.7 percent (South-East).
INTERHEART was a case-control study that included 15,152 cases with acute heart attack and 14,820 controls from across 262 centres in 52 regions worldwide. And a total of 578 cases and 789 controls were from Africa.
INTERSTROKE was a case-control study that included 663 and 2237 cases of intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke and ischaemic stroke, respectively. With 3,000 controls from 84 centres in 22 countries.
In the review published in the Global Heart Journal; hypertension was defined as a systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 140 mmHg or more. And a diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of 90 mmHg or more, a self-reported history of hypertension.
The review included 52 studies from the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria. Including 21 studies each from urban and rural settings. And 13 studies from mixed settings (rural-urban), totaling 78,949 individuals.
The researchers put the prevalence of hypertension in Nigeria at 30.9 percent. And ranged across the regions from 24.7 percent (Northwest) to 33.3 percent (Southeast).
They found that men in the Southeast had the highest pooled prevalence of hypertension (40.8 percent) compared to women (35.1 percent). And this was also among women in the Southeast. The lowest prevalence of hypertension was in the Northwest for men (20.1 percent) and in the South-South for women (20.9 percent).
The researchers noted that hypertension contributes more significantly to CVDs in men, particularly in older age groups. They pointed out that implementing population-wide measures and controls would be equally beneficial for both younger and older populations. As well as for both men and women.
“The findings support the notion that a significant burden of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the Nigerian population can be preventable. This can be through timely identification and prioritization of public health interventions. Which include effective population-based prevention strategies centred on CVDs in resource-constrained setting. Such as population-wide sodium-reduction strategies.
“As seen in other nations, hypertension remains a dominant risk factor driving the surge in CVDs in Nigeria. However, it is crucial to emphasize that CVDs attributable to hypertension are largely preventable. And timely interventions can significantly improve outcomes,” the study said.
“Building upon existing interventions like the National Multi-Sectoral Action Plan, it is essential to implement additional population-based prevention strategies to address the control of CVDs effectively.
“In line with World Health Organization recommendations, enhancing health promotion interventions and awareness campaigns regarding hypertension risk factors becomes imperative. With the goal of reducing hypertension prevalence by 30 percent,” the study stated.
source: Nigerian Tribune
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