Evaluation of Cardiovascular Risk Indices of Premenopausal and Postmenopausal Women in Delta State, Nigeria

Background: Non communicable diseases have taken the centre stage as the cause of death with the upsurge in cardiovascular diseases. Menopause is an age-related transition that is accompanied with physical, psychological as well as physiological changes as a result of hormonal imbalance. This has exposed women to many non-communicable diseases. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the cardiovascular risk indices of premenopausal and postmenopausal women in Delta State. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving sixty- three postmenopausal and two hundred and thirteen premenopausal women to assess their cardiovascular risk indices. Glucose, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were analysed spectrophotometrically using enzymatic methods. Low density lipoprotein (LDL), very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), atherogenic coefficient (AC), atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), cardiac risk ratio (CRR) and non-high-density lipoprotein (NHDL) were calculated using appropriate formula. Results: Result shows significantly higher total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), VLDL, LDL of postmenopausal women when compared with premenopausal women but no significant difference was observed in HDL of postmenopausal women when compared with premenopausal women. Also, there was a significantly higher AC, AIP, CRR and NHDL in postmenopausal women than premenopausal women. Conclusion: The import of the result is that postmenopausal women exhibit unfavorable lipid profile as well as cardiovascular risk indices which expose them to high propensity of cardiovascular diseases. It is therefore pertinent to include these cardiovascular risk indices for routine panel of test especially for the postmenopausal women for early detection of cardiac diseases.