Journal of Clinical Nutrition & Dietetics

Dietary Pattern and Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome in Hypertensive Outpatients and Associated Effect on Target Organ Damage

Hypertension is a major global public health problem due to its related high morbidity and mortality especially in developing countries, with a prevalence of 46% in the adult population. The study was aimed at investigating the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among hypertensive outpatients and its associated effect on target organs. Questionnaire was administered to 150 hypertensive outpatients and 50 non-hypertensives. Anthropometrics such as body mass index, waist circumference, body fat, visceral fat, blood pressure and biochemical parameters including lipid profile, urea, AST, ALT, and coronary risk were determined using standard procedures. Dietary pattern of hypertensives was not different from non-hypertensives. Metabolic syndrome was found to be significantly prevalent among hypertensive group than non-hypertensive group. Among cardiovascular disease markers, high coronary disease risk was significantly higher among participants with metabolic syndrome compared to those without metabolic syndrome (p=0.000). Coronary risk and ALT had weak, significant positive correlation in patients with metabolic syndrome. In effect, there is a high risk of heart, kidney and liver damage in hypertensives than non-hypertensives, which require comprehensive intervention and monitoring to reduce this burden of the disease.

Author(s):

Monica Talata Atule, Christopher Larbie* and Collins Afriyie

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