Frequency of Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Adult Nigerians with Family History of Non-Communicable Cardiovascular Disease in a Primary Care Clinic of a Tertiary Hospital in a Resource-Constrained Environment of Eastern Nigeria

Background: Cardiovascular (CV) risk factors tend to cluster in persons with family history of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) with variable distribution and penetrance. Screening adult Nigerians with immutable family history of CVD for other conventional CV risk factors is an important primary care challenge that is often neglected especially in resource-constrained settings. Aim: This study was designed to determine the frequency of cardiovascular risk factors in adult Nigerians with family history of non-communicable cardiovascular disease in a primary care clinic of a tertiary hospital in a resource-constrained environment of Eastern Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A descriptive facility-based study carried out on 440 consecutive adult Nigerians with family history of at least one of the major non-communicable CVDs in Nigeria who were screened for CV risk factors. Basic demographic variables, cardio-metabolic and behavioural risk factors were obtained using a pretested, structured and researcher-administered questionnaire. The conventional CV risk factors studied were hypertension, obesity, diabetes mellitus, physical activity, alcohol and tobacco use. Family history of CVD refers to previous information on any major CVDs such as hypertension, heart failure, myocardial infarction and stroke in any of the first, second and third degree generation family members who were dead or alive made by a health professional. Results: The three most frequent cardiovascular risk factors were physical inactivity (81.6%), asymptomatic hypertension (26.4%) and obesity (18.9%). Others included alcohol use (17.5%), diabetes mellitus (7.7%) and tobacco use (5.7%). Conclusion: This study has shown that CV risk factors exist among the study population with three most common being physical inactivity, asymptomatic hypertension and obesity. Screening adult Nigerians with family history of CVD for cardio-metabolic and behavioural CV risk factors should form baseline evaluation for these patients during clinical encounter in primary care.