Amanze Ikwu

Spectrum of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Hypertensive Women Amanze Ikwu

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death in women. Systemic hypertension is the commonest risk factor for CVD, and it frequently coexists with other risk factors (eg. diabetes mellitus, dyslipidaemia, obesity etc.) in women, thereby increasing the absolute cardiovascular risk. There are few data on the burden of cardiovascular disease risk factors in hypertensive women in Nigeria. This study set out to study the spectrum of CVD, and CVD risk factors among hypertensive women. This is a cross-sectional study involving 300 hypertensive women and 150 age and sex-matched normotensive women as controls. Participants that met the inclusion criteria were recruited. CVD risk factors and ventricular arrhythmia are found to be more common in women with hypertension. Left ventricular systolic and diastolic dysfunctions are more prevalent in hypertensive women and those with systolic and diastolic dysfunction had significantly lower exercise capacity than those without. Early risk factor detection and management is desirable in hypertensive women.