The SA Journal Diabetes & Vascular Disease Vol 16 No 1 (July 2019)

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SA JOURNAL OF DIABETES & VASCULAR DISEASE RESEARCH ARTICLE
VOLUME 16 NUMBER 1 • JULY 2019 25
Most participants (60.4%, n = 198) had normal tracings on ECG
with only 5.2% (n = 17) showing LVH. Abnormalities other than
LVH were found in 34.4% (n = 113) of participants and included:
sinus bradycardia (52.2%), left-axis deviation (14.2%), premature
ventricular contractions (7.1%), right bundle branch block (4.4%),
T-wave changes (4.4%) and left bundle branch block (2.6%).
On tests of associations between participants’ characteristics
and CV risk factors (Tables 3–5), age was significantly associated
with current alcohol use (p = 0.04), exposure to second-hand
smoke (p = 0.00) and physical inactivity (p = 0.00). Gender was
Table 3. Cardiovascular risk factors by age group
Age group, years
20–39 40–59 60–79 ≥ 80 Total
Risk factor (n = 15) (n = 168) (n = 140) (n = 5) (n = 328) p-value
Alcohol use, 9 (60) 44 (26.2) 38 (27.10) 1 (20) 92 (28.04) 0.037*
n (%)
Cigarette 2 (13.33) 22 (13.1) 15 (10.71) 0 (0) 39 (11.89) 0.7173
smoking, n (%)
Snuff use, 5 (33.33) 36 (21.4) 22 (15.7) 1 (20) 64 (19.5) 0.1962
n (%)
Exposure to 0 (0.0) 31 (18.5) 13 (9.3) 3 (60) 47 (14.3) 0.0015*
smoking, n (%)
Physical 11 (73.3) 105 (62.5) 119 (85) 5 (100) 240 (73.2) 0.0001
inactivity, n (%)
Type 2 3 (20.0) 50 (29.8) 44 (31.4) 2 (40) 99 (30.2) 0.7809
diabetes, n (%)
Hypercholesterol- 7 (46.6) 37 (22) 41 (29.3) 2 (40) 87 (26.5) 0.4379
aemia, n (%)
Family history of 2 (13.3) 11 (6.5) 4 (2.8) 0 (0.0) 17 (5.2) 0.2184
hypercholesterol-
aemia, n (%)
Fatal CV event, n (%)
Female 2 (13.3) 18 (10.7) 13 (9.3) 1 (20) 34 (10.4) 0.8400
Male 1 (6.6) 4 (2.4) 10 (7.1) 0 (0.0) 15 (4.6) 0.2252
BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2, 9 (60) 118 (70.2) 87 (62.1) 2 (40) 216 (65.8) 0.4945
n (%)
Waist circumference, n (%)
Female 10 (83.3) 130 (91) 91 (91) 5 (100) 236 (90.7) 0.7765
Male 1 (6.6) 8 (4.8) 20 (14.3) 0 (0.0) 29 (42.6) 0.4484
Left ventricular 0 (0.0) 9 (5.3) 7 (5) 1 (20) 17 (5.2) 0.3137
hypertrophy,
n (%)
*p-values include very small numbers in the extreme age groups to be
statistically reliable.
Table 4. Cardiovascular risk factors and gender
Female Male Total
Risk factors ( n = 260) (n = 68) (n = 328) p -value
Alcohol use, n (%) 56 (21.5) 36 (53.4) 92 (28) 0.0000
Cigarette smoking, n (%) 19 (7.3) 20 (29.4) 39 (11.9) 0.0000
Snuff use, n (%) 63 (19.2) 1 (1.5) 64 (19.5) 0.0000
Exposure to smoking, n (%) 43 (16.5) 4 (5.9) 47 (14.3) 0.08832
Physical inactivity, n (%) 182 (70) 58 (85.3) 240 (73.2) 0.0221
Diabetes mellitus, n (%) 71 (27.3) 28 (41.2) 99 (30.2) 0.0322
High cholesterol, n (%) 70 (26.9) 17 (25) 87 (26.5) 0.3784
Family history of 14 (5.4) 3 (4.4) 17 (5.2) 0.1626
cholesterol, n (%)
Fatal CV event, n (%) 34 (13) 15 (22) 49 (15) 0.4332
BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2, n (%) 190 (73) 26 (38.2) 216 (65.8) 0.0000
Waist circumference, n (%) 236 (90.8) 29 (42.6) 265 (80.8) 0.0529
Left ventricular hypertrophy, 10 (3.8) 7 (10.3) 17/328 (5.2) 0.07153
n (%)
Table 5. Cardiovascular risk factors and race
Asian Black Coloured White Total
Risk factors (n = 1) (n = 282) (n = 3) (n = 42) (n = 328) p-value
Alcohol use, 0 (0.0) 73 (26) 2 (66.6) 17 (40.5) 92 (24.2) 0.0717
n (%)
Cigarette 0 (0.0) 24 (8.5) 0 (0.0) 15 (35.7) 39 (11.9) 0.0000*
smoking, n (%)
Snuff use, n (%) 0 (0.0) 63 (22.3) 1 (33) 0 (0.0) 64 (19.5) 0.0081*
Exposure to 0 (0.0) 38 (13.5) 0 (0.0) 9 (21.4) 47 (12.6) 0.0866
smoking, n (%)
Physical inactivity, 1 (100) 203 (72) 3 (100) 33 (78.6) 240 (73.2) 0.5292
n (%)
Diabetes mellitus, 1 (100) 87 (30.1) 2 (66.6) 9 (21.4) 99 (30.2) 0.122
n (%)
High cholesterol, 1 (100) 63 (22.3) 1 (33) 22 (52.4) 87 (26.5) 0.0079*
n (%)
Family history 1 (100) 5 (1.8) 1 (33) 10 (24) 17 (5.2) 0.0000*
of cholesterol,
n (%)
Fatal CV event, n (%) 49 (15)
Female 0 (0.0) 24 (8.5) 0 (0.0) 10 (24) 34 (69.4) 0.0215
Male 0 (0.0) 7 (2.5) 0 (0.0) 8 (19) 15 (30.6) 0.0000
BMI, n (%) 1 (100) 192 (68.1) 2 (66.7) 21 (50) 216 (65.8) 0.8794
Waist circumference, n (%) 265 (80.8)
Female 1 (100) 203 (72) 1 (33) 31 (73.8) 236 (90.8) 0.3502
Male 0 (0.0) 23 (8.1) 1 (33) 5 (12) 29 (8.8) 0.2968
Left ventricular 0 (0.0) 16 (5.7) 0 (0.0) 1 (2.4) 17 (5.2) 0.7213
hypertrophy, n (%)
*p-value includes very small numbers of Asian and coloured participants to
be statistically reliable. These two races with the white race were allocated
as other race in the logistic regression (Table 6).
significantly associated with being diabetic (p = 0.03), physically
inactive (p = 0.02), current alcohol use (p = 0.00), obesity (p =
0.00), snuff use (p = 0.00) and cigarette smoking (p = 0.00). Race
was significantly associated with cigarette smoking (p = 0.00), snuff
use (p = 0.01), hypercholesterolemia ( p = 0.01) and family history
of fatal CV event (p = 0.02 for females and p = 0.00 for males).
Marital status was associated with cigarette smoking ( p = 0.03) and
family history of fatal CV event (p = 0.02). Educational level was
significantly associated with snuff use ( p = 0.03) and family history
of hypercholesterolaemia (p = 0.00). Lastly, employment status was
significantly associated with physical inactivity (p = 0.00).
Table 6 shows the sociodemographic correlates of each CV risk
factor in multivariate regression analysis. Compared to those aged
20–39 years, older patients were significantly more likely to report
being physically inactive but less likely to report alcohol use.
Compared towomen, menweremore likely to report alcohol use,
cigarette smoking, being physically inactive and having diabetes.
Women on the other hand, were more likely to report using snuff
and being obese. Black participants were significantly more likely to
report snuff use compared to other racial groups, but less likely to
report cigarette smoking, family history of hypercholesterolaemia,
family history of fatal CV event and having hypercholesterolaemia.
Compared to those in employment, pensioners were significantly
more likely to report being physically inactive. Educational level and
marital status did not correlate with any CV risk factor.
Discussion
This study found that the prevalence of other CV risk factors among
patients with hypertension was high. In addition, there were