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CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Volume 29, No 2, March/April 2018
76
AFRICA
women and 24.2% in men) and those with abdominal obesity
(8.8% in women and 24.3% in men). Men with obesity (2.4
vs underweight) and abdominal obesity (2.3 vs no abdominal
obesity) presented higher ORs for diabetes than women (2.1 for
obese vs underweight and 1.5 for abdominal obesity) (Table 4).
For current smokers and occasional consumers of alcohol
the prevalence of diabetes was higher, but with no significant
relationship (Table 4). No significant relationships were found
with education, residence, BMI, abdominal obesity, tobacco
smoking and alcohol consumption; however, the prevalence of
hypercholesterolaemia was higher among less educated individuals,
the obese, smokers and frequent alcohol drinkers (Table 5).
The majority of the population (61.5%;
n
=
1 460) reported
previous measures of blood pressure, and nearly half (48.5%) of
the hypertensive participants were aware of their condition. Only
32.5% of the aware hypertensive participants were on treatment
and 57.7% of them had their blood pressure controlled. This
represented only 9.1% of all hypertensive participants (Fig. 1).
Only 7.3% (
n
=
172) of the population reported previous
measurement of glycaemia, with a low awareness rate of
10.8% among participants with diabetes in this study. Of the
aware participants, 41.7% were receiving treatment (4.5% of
all hyperglycaemic participants) and 60.0% had a controlled
blood sugar level (Fig. 1). Only 2.9% (
n
=
68) of participants
reported previous measures of cholesterolaemia and only 4.2%
of individuals with hypercholesterolaemia were aware of their
condition (Fig. 1).
The hypertension awareness rate was higher among women
(62.7%; 95% CI: 55.9–69.0) and older participants, without
a difference regarding education level (Table 6). The diabetes
awareness rate was higher among men (58.3%; 95% CI: 38.8–
75.5), older participants and those with higher education levels
(Table 7). The hypercholesterolaemia awareness rate was higher
among women (66.7%; 95% CI: 20.8–93.9), older age groups
and higher education levels (Table 8). The treatment rate of
all conditions was more prevalent in the older age groups and
higher education levels, but the control rate was more frequent
in younger participants.
Among the individuals who were aware of any of the
three conditions, the advice most often given by healthcare
professionals to follow non-pharmacological approaches for
the management of cardiovascular risk factors was a change
in dietary habits, with a decrease in salt and fat intake, and
increased fruit and vegetable intake (Table 9).
Discussion
The prevalence of hypertension among participants in the range
of 15 to 64 years old was 18.0%. This value rose to 26.6% among
participants aged 25 to 64 years, which is slightly higher than
those previously described for Angola over the last eight years,
14-
15
particularly a study conducted in the same region in 2010,
16
and the WHO age-standardised (25 to 64 years old) estimated
hypertension prevalence for 2014 in Angola of 23.9% (95% CI:
Table 3. Prevalence of hypertension and relation with other factors by gender (Caxito, 2016)
Associated factor
All Participants(
n
=
2 354)
Female (
n
=
1 222)
Male (
n
=
1 132)
Prevalence
% (95% CI)*
Prevalence
% (95% CI)*
Adjusted OR
a,b
(95% CI)*
Prevalence
% (95% CI)*
Adjusted OR
a,b
(95% CI)*
Total
18.0 (16.5–19.6)
20.0 (17.8–22.3)
–
15.9 (13.9–18.1)
–
Age (years)
15–24
2.8 (1.9–4.2)
1.9 (0.9–3.9)
1
3.5 (2.2–5.6)
1
25–34
12.3 (9.9–15.2)
10.6 (7.7–14.6)
6.6 (2.8–15.4)
14.3 (10.8–18.8)
4.6 (2.6–8.2)
35–44
25.6 (21.5–72.0)
26.8 (21.4–32.9)
20.3 (8.9–46.5)
23.8 (17.7-31.2)
8.7 (4.7-16.0)
45–54
38.7 (33.4–44.4)
39.6 (32.8–39.6)
36.6 (16.0–83.8)
37.3 (28.8–46.6)
16.2 (8.7–30.0)
55–64
51.6 (45.0–58.2)
53.5 (44.9–61.9)
63.4 (27.1–147.9)
48.9 (38.7–59.1)
26.4 (13.9–50.0)
Residence
Urban
15.9 (14.3–17.6)
17.6 (15.3–20.1)
–
14.0 (11.9–16.4)
–
Rural
26.9 (23.0–31.2)
30.0 (24.4–36.2)
–
23.5 (18.4–29.6)
–
Education (years completed)
None
45.4 (38.9–52.0)
45.5 (38.8–52.4)
4.3 (1.8–10.2)
46.7 (24.8–69.9)
2.0 (0.6–6.5)
1–4
24.9 (21.4–28.7)
23.3 (19.5–27.6)
2.4 (1.0–5.4)
29.8 (22.5–38.4)
0.8 (0.5–1.5)
5–9
12.7 (10.8–14.9)
10.3 (7.8–13.6)
2.2 (0.9–5.1)
14.5 (11.8–17.7)
0.9 (0.6–1.4)
> 10
10.4 (8.2–13.1)
4.4 (2.1–8.8)
1
12.6 (9.8–16.1)
1
BMI class (kg/m
2
)
Underweight (
<
18.5)
11.0 (7.8-15.3)
12.9 (8.1-19.0)
1
9.3 (5.5-15.2)
1
Normal (18.5–24.9)
15.2 (13.5–17.1)
17.0 (14.4–19.9)
1.1 (0.6–2.1)
13.7 (11.5–16.2)
1.3 (0.7–2.5)
Overweight (25.0–29.9)
25.8 (21.6–30.5)
23.9 (19.0–29.5)
1.2 (0.6–2.3)
29.2 (21.8–37.8)
2.2 (1.1–4.7)
Obese (
≥
30)
37.3 (30.2–45.0)
34.9 (27.2–43.4)
2.0 (1.0–4.1)
48.5 (32.5–64.8)
5.1 (1.9–13.4)
Abdominal obesity
No
12.1 (10.6–13.7)
12.6 (10.5–15.2)
1
11.6 (9.7–13.7)
1
Yes
35.7 (31.9–39.6)
32.5 (28.3–37.0)
1.6 (1.2-2.3)
45.7 (37.7–54.0)
2.8 (1.8–4.3)
Tobacco smoking
Non-current
17.3 (15.8–18.9)
18.9 (16.7–21.2)
–
15.5 (13.4–17.8)
–
Current
26.7 (20.2–34.4)
50.0 (34.1–65.9)
–
20.4 (14.0–28.7)
–
Alcohol consumption
No consumpion
14.2 (12.6–16.1)
18.1 (15.7–20.9)
1
9.1 (7.2–11.6)
1
Occasional (
<
3 days per week)
23.5 (19.8–23.5)
21.4 (16.7–27.1)
0.9 (0.6–1.4)
26.0 (20.4–32.5)
2.5 (1.6–4.0)
Frequent (
≥
3 days per week)
25.5 (21.5–25.5)
28.0 (21.1–36.2)
1.7 (1.1–2.7)
24.3 (19.6–29.7)
2.5 (1.7–3.9)
*Post-stratification weights used as described in the methods section;
a
Adjusted for age (categorical: 15–23, 25–34, 35–44, 45–54, and 55–64);
b
Only variables with rela-
tions with statistical significance shown.