Assessment of metabolic syndrome among hypertensive adult subjects in Enugu southeastern, Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: Hypertension poses a significant burden on the general population, being responsible for increasing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The association of hypertension with dyslipidemia, enlarged waistline (obesity), and insulin resistance, also known as metabolic syndrome, further increases the overall cardiovascular risk of an individual. This study assessed the metabolic syndrome among adult hypertensive individuals in Enugu, Nigeria. Methods: One hundred and twenty participants(18-50 years) consisting of sixty hypertensive subjects, as test group and sixty normotensive subjects, as control group were recruited for this cross sectional study. Anthropometric parameters, waist circumference (WC), height, weight, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were measured and body mass index (BMI) calculated. Five milliliters of fasting blood samples were collected and used for the determination of fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and lipid profile (TC, TG, HDL-C, LDL-C, VLDL-C) using enzymatic colorimetric methods. Laboratory investigations were done in a hospital setting. Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) prevalence was estimated using the National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III) criteria. Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. Results: The results showed a significant increase (P< 0.05) in the mean ± SD of SBP (162.30 ± 18.94, 124.27 ± 8.85), DBP (106.77 ± 25.77, 83.40 ± 11.47), FPG (5.70 ± 1.90, 4.47 ± 0.64), TC (5.19 ± 0.913, 3.70 ± 0.94), LDL-C (3.05 ± 1.09, 1.68 ± 0.94) and a non-significant difference (P > 0.05) in WC (91.48 ± 8.69, 91.96 ± 10.84), TG (1.35 ± 0.37, 1.26 ± 0.49), HDL-C (1.62 ± 0.45, 1.59 ± 0.50), VLDL-C (0.517 ± 0.16, 0.47 ± 0.64) of the hypertensive and normotensive subjects respectively. The prevalence of MetS in hypertensive subjects was 33.3%, while that of the control group (normotensives) was 3.3%. Conclusion: The study concludes that hypertension predisposes an individual to higher risk of developing MetS.