ABSTRACT

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are by far the leading cause of death in Nigeria and other parts of the world. This study assessed the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases among University working staffs in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU) and Abia State University (ABSU) (Umuahia campus), Abia State. The study was a cross-sectional study. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select a total of 440 university staffs. Data on demographic/economic characteristics, risk factors of cardiovascular diseases and anthropometric status were collected using structured and validated questionnaire. The IBM SPSS version 22.0 computer programme was used to analyze the data. Data obtained were presented using frequency and percentage. Pearson correlation was used to analyze the relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and the anthropometric status of the respondents. More than half (52.7%) of the respondents have a family history of hypertension. Meanwhile, more than half (56.7%) of them are currently suffering from hypertension. Most (78.0%) of the respondents currently consume alcohol and 40.9% smoke cigarette/use tobacco. More than half (64.3%) of the respondents buy food from the food vendors, 45.7% and 41.1% of them consume fruits and vegetables regularly. Meanwhile, most (68.0%) of them skip their meals. Most (75.2%) of the respondents had low physical activity while 23.9% had a high physical activity level. From their anthropometric status, more than half (55.9%) of the respondents were overweight and 29.3% were obese. Some (33.5% and 24.7%) of the female and male respondents had increased waist circumference. Additionally, some (26%) of the female respondents and 25.5% of the male respondents were at risk of cardiovascular disease. Blood pressure measurement showed that that more than half (53.2%) of the respondents had an elevated blood pressure, 32.7% had stage 1 blood pressure while 2.5% had stage 2 blood pressure. There was a significant relationship between family history, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, diastolic blood pressure, and the age of the respondents. There was also a significant relationship between BMI status, waist circumference, alcohol consumption, blood pressure level and fruit consumption of the respondents. Appropriate health education to increase awareness about cardio vascular risk factors remains the fulcrum of preventing increased cardiovascular risk among Nigerian University workers. University administrators should, therefore, design and implement massive, cost-effective long term health education for University workers to prevent cardiovascular morbidity and mortality among them.