Cardiovascular risk factors in middle-aged and elderly residents in South-East Nigeria: the influence of urbanization.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) were previously considered a problem of the developed nations only. Emerging facts show that CVD and their risk factors are now prevalent in developing countries. We carried out a cross-sectional, population-based survey to determine the relation between place residence (rural or urban) and the burden of CVD risk factors in South East Nigeria. Hypercholesterolaemia, hypertension, abnormal blood glucose and obesity were assessed for, in middle-aged and elderly residents of two communities in Enugu, South East Nigeria. A total of 543 adults (308 at Ogwofia Owa and 235 at Emene) participated in the study. The mean and 95% CI for mean of the characteristics of subjects showed that they were in the middle-age group with apparently normal mean cardiovascular risk indices except for systolic and diastolic blood pressure indices which suggested pre-hypertension. The subjects residing in the rural area were older than those residing in the urban area but cardiovascular risk factors had higher mean values in urban residents except systolic blood pressure (SBP). The most prevalent cardiovascular risk factors in the study group were hypertension and obesity. Urban residence was found to influence the prevalence of risk factors, specifically obesity and diastolic hypertension.