title: Risk-Factor Profile and Comorbidities in 2398 Patients With Newly Diagnosed Hypertension From the Abuja Heart Study.
abstract: Risk factors, comorbidities, and end-organ damage in newly diagnosed hypertension (HT) are poorly described in larger cohorts of urban African patients undergoing epidemiological transition. We therefore decided to characterize a large cohort of hypertensive subjects presenting to a tertiary health center in sub-Saharan Africa. It is an observational cross-sectional study. We prospectively collected detailed clinical, biochemical, electrocardiography, and echocardiography data of all subjects with HT as the primary diagnosis in patients presenting at the Cardiology Unit of the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital over an 8-year period. Of 2398 subjects, 1187 patients (49.4%) were female with a mean age of 51 ± 12.8 years. Presenting symptoms and signs were most commonly palpitation in 691 (28.8%) followed by dyspnoea on exertion in 541 (22.6%), orthopnea in 532 (22.2%), pedal oedema in 468 (19.5%), paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnoea in 332 (13.8%), whereas only 31 (1.3%) presented with chest pain. Risk factors were obesity in 671 (28%); 523 (21.8%) had total cholesterol >5.2 mmol/L, diabetes mellitus was present in 201 (8.4%) and 187 (7.8%) were smokers. End-organ damage was present in form of echocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy in 1336 (55.7%) followed by heart failure in 542 (22.6%). Arrhythmias occurred in 110 (4.6%) of cases, cerebrovascular accident in 103 (4.3%), chronic kidney disease in 26 (1.1%), hypertensive encephalopathy in 10 (0.4%), and coronary artery disease in 6 (0.26%). There were marked differences in sex as women were more obese and men presented with more advanced disease. The burden of HT and its complications in this carefully characterized African cohort is quite enormous with more than three-fourth having one form of complication. The need of effective primary and secondary preventive measures to be mapped out to tackle this problem cannot be overemphasized.
authors.affiliation: From the Cardiology Unit (DBO, BA, AN), Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Abuja, Nigeria; Soweto Cardiovascular Research Unit (DBO, EL, KS), School of Clinical Medicine, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa; Department of Cardiology (JJA), Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital and University of Queensland School of Medicine, Brisbane, Australia; and Hatter Institute for Cardiovascular Research in Africa (KS), Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Dike B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Ojji
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Libhaber
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Atherton
authors.forename: Bolaji
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Abdullahi
authors.forename: Ada
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nwankwo
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sliwa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria; D012307:Risk Factors