CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Vol 23, No 7, August 2012
AFRICA
375
Table 5 compares the CVD risk factors of employed with
unemployed men and women. Very few of the rural subjects
were employed (15 men and 19 women) while 95 men and
95 women of the urban subjects were employed. Of the total
sample of 679 men for whom employment data were available,
84.2% was unemployed, and of the 1 136 women who reported
employment status, 90% was unemployed.
The employed men and women were significantly younger
than the unemployed subjects. The employed men and women
had a significantly higher mean BMI and energy intakes but
lower HDL cholesterol (women), triglyceride (women), and
fibrinogen (men and women) levels. Both the employed and
unemployed women had mean BMIs in the overweight range.
The diet of the employed showed all the characteristics of the
higher-fat, more Westernised diet seen in the urban and more
educated groups
TABLE 4. MEAN (95% CI) OF SELECTED CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE RISK FACTORS
INWOMENWITH DIFFERENT EDUCATION LEVELS
Risk factor: mean (95% CI)
Not answered
None
Primary
Secondary school and higher
Number of subjects
37
420
531
276
Number of urban subjects
16
112
337
139
Number of rural subjects
21
308
194
136
Age (years)
47.0 (43.3–50.7)
50.2 (49.1–51.3)
50.7 (49.7–51.7)
44.0 (42.6-45.3)*
High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (mmol/l)
1.36 (1.12–1.59)
1.55 (1.48–1.61)
1.49 (1.43–1.55)
1.43 (1.34–1.52)
Total cholesterol (mmol/l)
5.50 (4.98–6.01)
5.20 (5.05–5.35)
5.19 (5.05–5.33)
4.99 (4.80–5.18)
Fasting glucose (mmol/l)
5.29 (4.73–5.84)
5.04 (4.88–5.21)
4.94 (4.78–5.07)
4.88 (4.67–5.08)
C-reactive protein (mg/l)
10.01 (6.04–14.00)
8.80 (7.61–10.00)
8.67 (7.61–9.73)
8.01 (6.53–9.48)
Triglyceride (mmol/l)
1.38 (1.11–1.65)
1.40 (1.31–1.49)
1.36 (1.28–1.43)
1.22 (1.12–1.32)*
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)
130.6 (121.9–139.4)
130.4 (127.8–133.0)
134.5 (132.1–136.9)
126.9 (123.7-130.1)*
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)
89.5 (84.3–94.7)
86.7 (85.2–88.2)
89.4 (88.0–90.9)
85.7 (83.7–87.6)*
Body mass index (kg/m²)
28.6 (26.0–31)
25.2 (24.4–26.0)
27.6 (26.9–28.3)
27.4 (26.5–28.4)*
Fibrinogen (g/l)
4.51 (3.69–5.32)
3.98 (3.74–4.22)
3.96 (3.73–4.18)
3.71 (3.41–4.01)
Total energy (TE) (kJ)
7115 (5985–8245)
6677 (6337–7017)
7997 (7693–8300)
7419 (6960–7877)*
Total fat (g) (% of TE)
45.1 (24.1%)
38.0 (21.6%)
55.4 (26.3%)
50.2 (25.7%)*
Total protein (g) (% of TE)
48.3 (11.5%)
44.6 (11.4%)
56.4 (12.0%)
52.1 (11.9%)*
Total carbohydrates (g) (% of TE)
259.0 (61.9%)
245.3 (62.5%)
274.6 (58.4%)
261.2 (59.8%)
Total fibre (g)
18.1 (15.1–21.1)
18.2 (18.2–19.1)
21.0 (20.2–21.8)
19.3 (18.1–20.5)*
Alcohol consumption (g/day)
4.3 (–2.2–10.9)
10.4 (8.4–12.3)
7.2 (5.5–8.9)
4.9 (2.5–7.4)*
*Significant difference across different education levels population (
p
<
0.05); significant differences based on GLM, analysis of variance (ANOVA).
TABLE 5. MEAN (95% CI) CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE RISK FACTORS OF EMLOYEDAND UNEMPLOYED MENANDWOMEN
Risk factor: means (95% CI)
Men
Women
Not Answered
Employed
Unemployed
Not Answered
Employed
Unemployed
Total numbers
49
110
587
128
114
1022
Number of urban subjects
47
95
257
120
9
Number of rural subjects
2
15
330
8
19
632
Age (years)
52.8 (49.3–56.3)
44.6 (42.4–46.8)
a
50.4 (49.5–51.4)
b
50.3 (48.1–52.5)
45.6 (43.4–47.8)
a
49.1 (48.4–49.9)
b
High-density lipoprotein
cholesterol (mmol/l)
1.46 (1.24–1.69)
1.53 (1.40–1.66)
1.60 (1.54–1.66)
1.19 (1.06–1.32)
1.43 (1.29–1.56)
a
1.53 (1.49–1.56)
a
Total cholesterol (mmol/l)
4.62 (4.17–5.07)
4.89 (4.61–5.18)
4.80 (4.68–4.92)
4.93 (4.64–5.210 4.92 (4.62–5.22)
5.20 (5.12–5.30)
Fasting glucose (mmol/l)
5.45 (4.89–6.00)
4.67 (4.31–5.00)
a
4.84 (4.70–4.99)
a
5.34 (5.03–5.67)
4.67 (4.35–5.00)
a
4.96 (4.85–5.07)
a
C-reactive protein (mg/l)
7.43 (3.04–11.81)
5.81 (3.04–8.58)
8.29 (7.12–9.47)
9.44 (7.04–11.84)
6.05 (3.56–8.54)
8.41 (7.61–9.23)
Triglyceride
1.30 (1.01–1.57)
1.31 (1.13–1.49)
1.18 (1.11–1.26)
1.56 (1.40–1.710 1.16 (0.99–1.31)
a
1.33 (1.28–1.38)
a
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) 138.4 (130.5–146.2) 134.1 (129.2–139.1) 134.2 (132.1–136.3) 133.0 (128.0–138.0) 130.9 (125.7–136.1) 131.1 (129.4–132.8)
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)
88.8 (83.8-93.7)
85.8 (82.6-88.9)
86.0 (84.6-87.3)
86.9 (83.9–89.9)
87.8 (84.8-90.9)
87.7 (86.7–88.7)
Body mass index (kg/m²)
21.5 (20.1–22.8)
22.1 (21.3–23.0)
a
20.6 (20.2–20.9)
a
28.1 (26.6–29.6)
27.9 (26.3–29.4)
b
26.5 (26.0–27.0)
b
Fibrinogen (g/l)
2.17 (1.48–2.87)
2.98 (2.55–3.42)
a
3.47 (3.28–3.65)
a
3.62 (3.16–4.09)
3.51 (3.03–3.98)
b
4.01 (3.85–4.16)
b
Total energy (TE) (kJ)
7626.5 (6248.4–
9004.6)
10217.5 (9348.5–
11086.4)a
8385.7 (8016.6–
8754.8)
a
6318.0 (5612.3–
7023.6)
8495.5 (7764.2–
9226.9)
b
7174.6 (6938.3–
7410.9)
b
Total fat (g) (% TE)
51.7 (25.8)
67.9 (25.3)
a
46.4 (21.0)
a
45.1 (27.1)
63.9 (28.6)
b
44.0 (23.3)
b
Total protein (g) (% TE)
53.5 (11.9)
74.8 (12.4)
a
57.8 (11.7)
a
44.9 (12.1)
63.6 (12.7)
b
48.6 (11.5)
b
Total carbohydrates (g) (% TE)
245.8 (54.8)
342.7 (57.0)
a
295.4 (60.0)
a
214.4 (57.7)
279.9 (56.0)
b
259.5 (61.5)
b
Total dietary fibre (g)
19.4 (15.5–23.3)
25.4 (22.9–27.9)
a
22.3 (21.2–23.3)
a
15.4 (13.6–17.20)
21.0 (19.1–22.9)
b
19.4 (18.8–20.0)
b
Alcohol consumption (g/day)
17.6 (7.6–27.6)
17.7 (11.4–24.0)
20.7 (18.0–23.4)
4.7 (0.5–9.0)
4.0 (–3.9–8.3)
8.2 (6.8–9.6)
a,b
Means with the same symbol for a specific variable indicate significant differences (
p
<
0.05); significant differences based on GLM analysis of variance (ANOVA).
