Emerging Trends in the Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases in the Southeast Region of Nigeria

Background and Objective: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are leading causes of non-communicable diseases and are increasingly becoming the major causes of morbidity and mortality in Nigeria. Published literature on the changing patterns and outcome of CVD admissions in the southeast region of Nigeria is scanty. This study, therefore, set out to bridge this gap in knowledge. Subjects and Methods: This was a 10-year retrospective descriptive study in which data about patients admitted on account of the CVDs to the medical wards of Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH), Aba from May 1, 2007 to April 30, 2017 were extracted from the Admission/Discharge registers in the medical wards. Relevant data obtained were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 software. Results: A total of 2044 patients were admitted because of CVDs, made up of 927 (45.4%) males and 1117 (54.6%) females. Cerebrovascular disease (stroke), heart failure (HF) and uncontrolled systemic hypertension (SHTN) were the major cardiovascular indications for hospitalization at 44.08%, 38.85% and 15.31% respectively. With an overall CVD mortality of 24.9% of the medical admissions, the commonest cause of CVD deaths was stroke. Majority of the CVD deaths (70.9%) occurred within the first 7 days of hospitalization Conclusion: Contribution of cardiovascular diseases to medical admissions is considerable in Aba, Southeast Nigeria. In-patient mortality of the CVDs is high especially from stroke. It is recommended that every effort should be made to control the modifiable risk factors of CVDs while early detection and treatment of CVDs be effected. Keywords: Aba, cardiovascular diseases, medical wards, non-communicable diseases, Southeast, Nigeria