title: Progression of cardiovascular risk factors in black Africans: 3 year follow up of the SABPA cohort study.
abstract: Recent work identified a high prevalence of modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) among urban black South Africans. The aim was to track the progression of CVD risk factors in a multi-ethnic sample of South Africans. Participants were 173 black (aged 47.5 ± 7.8 yrs) and 186 white teachers (aged 49.6 ± 9.9 yrs) that were examined at baseline and 3 years follow-up. Blacks demonstrated a substantially higher prevalence of composite CVD burden (defined as history of physician diagnosed heart disease, use of anti-hypertensives, anti-diabetic, or statin medications at either time point) compared to whites (49.1 vs. 32.0%, p = 0.012) respectively. After controlling for baseline, the black participants demonstrated greater increases in 24 h systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, fasting glucose, fibrinogen, D-dimer, and waist circumference in comparison with whites. In summary, an adverse progression of CVD risk factors was observed in the whole sample, although to a larger degree in black participants. Aggressive treatment strategies for controlling risk factors in black Africans are needed to reduce the increasing burden of CVD in South Africa.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK; Hypertension in Africa Research Team, School for Physiology, Nutrition and Consumer Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa. Electronic address: m.hamer@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hamer
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital and University of Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: von Känel
authors.affiliation: Autonomic and Neuroendocrinological Laboratory Dresden, Department of Neurology, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Manja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reimann
authors.affiliation: Hypertension in Africa Research Team, School for Physiology, Nutrition and Consumer Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
authors.forename: Nico T
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Malan
authors.affiliation: Hypertension in Africa Research Team, School for Physiology, Nutrition and Consumer Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
authors.forename: Alta E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Schutte
authors.affiliation: Hypertension in Africa Research Team, School for Physiology, Nutrition and Consumer Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
authors.forename: Hugo W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Huisman
authors.affiliation: Hypertension in Africa Research Team, School for Physiology, Nutrition and Consumer Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
authors.forename: Leone
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Malan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044383:Black People; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology*; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003971:Diastole; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products / Q000378:metabolism; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D013019:South Africa; D013599:Systole; D055105:Waist Circumference
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products; C036309:fibrin fragment D; D005340:Fibrinogen; D002784:Cholesterol
keywords: Biomarkers; Black African; Cardiovascular disease; Epidemiology