Contemporary Baseline Clinical Profile of Chronic Hypertensive Heart Failure in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has become the major cause of morbidity and mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Despite this, there is still very little data on the pattern of hypertensive heart disease in SSA.

Objective: This study described the characteristics of heart failure caused by hypertensive heart disease in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Methods: This was a hospital-based cross-sectional study conducted in the cardiology unit of the Department of Medicine, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. Eligible patients were those presenting with chronic hypertensive heart failure to the cardiology unit or referred to the unit for the same purpose. Data collection started from August 1, 2016, to July 31, 2021. Analysis was done with the SPSS statistical package. A 2-tailed p-value of <0.05 was assumed to be statistically significant.

Results: A total of 753 subjects met the inclusion criteria for the study. The mean age of the population was 60.3 (range, 18-98 years). The most common co-morbidity was diabetes mellitus (13.9%). About 54% of the subjects had a previous history of heart failure. Serum sodium (p = 0.022), creatinine (p = 0.001), and total cholesterol (p = 0.004) were significantly higher in females. Men are more likely to have left-axis deviation (p=0.016) and left atrial abnormality (p=0.016). Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction was common in males.

Conclusion: HHF in Ibadan, Nigeria, affects a relatively younger population compared to their counterparts in high-income countries. Our findings are similar to data from other parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Preventive programmes should be utilised at all levels to stem the menace of hypertension.