The prevalence of peripheral arterial disease in diabetic subjects in south-west Nigeria

Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is rarely sought for and generally underdiagnosed even in diabetics in developing countries like Nigeria. PAD is easily detected and diagnosed by the ankle-brachial index; a simple and reliable test. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of PAD in diabetic subjects aged 50-89 years and the value of ankle-brachial index measurement in the detection of PAD. Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study of 219 diabetic subjects aged 50-89 years was carried out. The participants were administered a pre-tested questionnaire and measurement of ankle-brachial index (ABI) was done. The ankle-brachial index 0.90 was considered equivalent to peripheral arterial disease. Results: The overall prevalence of PAD was 52.5. The prevalence of symptomatic PAD was 28.7whilst that of asymptomatic PAD was 71.3. There were a number of associations with PAD which included; age (p 0.05); sex (p 0.05); and marital status (p 0.05). The use of the ankle-brachial index in the detection of PAD was clearly more reliable than the clinical methods like history of intermittent claudication and absence or presence of pedal pulses. Conclusion: The prevalence of PAD is relatively high in diabetic subjects in the southwestern region of Nigeria. Notable is the fact that a higher proportion was asymptomatic. Also the use of ABI is of great value in the detection of PAD as evidenced by a clearly more objective assessment of PAD compared to both intermittent claudication and absent pedal pulses

The prevalence of abdominal obesity and hypertension amongst adults in Ogbomoso, Nigeria

Background: In many developing countries obesity and obesity-related morbidity are now becoming a problem of increasing importance. Obesity is associated with a number of disease conditions, including hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, gallstones, respiratory system problems and sleep apnoea. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hypertension and obesity, as classified according to waist circumference (WC), and further to determine whether there was any association between abdominal obesity and hypertension amongst adults attending the Baptist Medical Centre, Ogbomoso, Nigeria. Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study of 400 adults aged 18 years or older was conducted. Blood pressure and WC measurements were taken and participants completed a standardised questionnaire. Results: A group of 400 participants were randomly selected (221 women; 179 men), with a mean age of 48.7 ± 16.6 years. The overall prevalence of obesity as indicated by WC was 33.8%(men = 8.9%; women = 53.8%). Women were significantly more sedentary than men (50.8% for men vs 62.4% for women, p<0.05). Most of the obese participants' families also preferred high-energy foods (85.2%, p>0.05). Overall prevalence of hypertension amongst the study population was 50.5%, but without a significant difference between men and women (52.0% for men vs 49.3% for women, p>0.05). The prevalence of hypertension amongst the obese subset, however, was 60.0%. Conclusion: Prevalence of abdominal obesity was found to be particularly significant amongst women in this setting and was associated with hypertension, physical inactivity and the consumption of high-energy diets