The Predictors of Left Ventricular Dysfunction Among Hypertensive And Diabetic-Hypertensive Patients in A Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria *

There is currently an ongoing global epidemiological transition of disease patterns from communicable diseases (CD) to non communicable diseases (NCD), and Sub – Saharan Africa is not spared. Majority of NCD related deaths occur in low and middle income countries such as Nigeria. Diabetes mellitus and systemic hypertension represent the greatest burden of the NCDs in the African region, often occurring together with common risk factors. To determine the predictors of left ventricular diastolic function in type 2 diabetic patients with or without hypertension at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital. This was a cross sectional study carried out at the cardiac and endocrinology clinics of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) for a period of 6 months from Jan to July 2013. Data was analysed using SPSS version 15. One hundred and four (56.5%) of the participants were males while 80 (43.5%) were females. The study showed that the prevalence of Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) is 63.0% and 67.4% in normotensive diabetic and hypertensive patients respectively, with a higher prevalence of 76.1% in hypertensive – diabetic patients. The predictors of LVDD were older age, higher waist-hip ratio, diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood sugar and glycated hemoglobin. In conclusion, the combination of hypertension and diabetes mellitus has a greater effect on LVDD.