RESUMO
BACKGROUND: The incidence of Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), one of the manifestations of atherosclerosis, is increasing worldwide with significant effects on the quality of life. The disease is a strong prognostic marker for future cardiovascular events in people over 60 years, but relatively little is known about the condition among the elderly in sub-Saharan Africa. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and pattern of peripheral artery disease in elderly patients. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional hospital-based study was carried out among elderly patients aged 60 years and above attending the Geriatric Clinic of the Department of Family Medicine of University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Edo State, Nigeria, from September to November 2017. Using systematic random sampling technique, 370 respondents were recruited from a sampling frame of 2160 respondents and a sampling fraction of 6. A structured questionnaire was administered to collect data on sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle variable, and medical history. The ankle-brachial index (ABI) and toe-brachial index (TBI) were used to assess for PAD. The analysis was done using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: The mean age was 69.3 ± 7 years comprising 76.5% females, 50% of the respondents were married, while 47% were widowed. The ABI showed 35.4% prevalence of PAD, while TBI for respondents with elevated ABI was 45.0%. CONCLUSION: The study showed a point prevalence of PAD to be 37.8%. From the total respondents, 45.7% had mild, while 2.9% had severe PAD. Routine screening for PAD is recommended for the early detection and management.
RESUMO
CONTEXT: Alcoholism or alcohol use disorder (AUD) is common among the elderly, though under-recognised and underreported. This under-reporting is especially so in Africa, including Nigeria where there is near absence of study on the subject matter. AIMS: This study aims to determine the prevalence of alcoholism amongst geriatric patients at the general practice clinic (GPC) of a teaching hospital and to assess some associated socio-demographic factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was cross-sectional and descriptive, conducted at the GPC of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria. Four hundred and twenty-two geriatric outpatients completed the geriatric version of the Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test and a socio-demographic data collection sheet. Cross-tabulation of categorical variables was performed by means of IBM SPSS statistics for windows version 19.0, with the level of significance set at P <0.05. RESULTS: The prevalence of AUD was 10.2%; the prevalence amongst males and females was 18.1% and 5.3%, respectively. AUD was present in 14.4%, 6.84% and 4.55% of those who had marital conflict, chronic pain and difficulty with walking, respectively. Sex, age group, financial difficulty, chronic pain and difficulty with walking were significantly associated with AUD. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of AUD amongst geriatric patients is relatively high. The deleterious effects of alcoholism may be worse in the elderly due to changes that occur with aging and their likelihood to be on medications that may interact adversely with alcohol.
