Cardiovascular Journal of Africa: Vol 30 No 6 (November/December 2019)

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CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Volume 30, No 6, November/December 2019 366 AFRICA
According to Ibrahim and Damasceno,54 as well as the WHO,4 an
estimated one billion people worldwide are hypertensive, and this
number is expected to rise to 1.56 billion by 2025.
These studies also found that all measures of body
composition (WC, BMI and WHtR) significantly correlated
with WC and WHtR. BMI and WC positively correlated with
SBP in the normal group. The same trend was observed in other
studies, where a statistically significant association was found
between hypertension and BMI among employees working
at Port Said University.55 The results of the study also found
that, in the overweight group, WC correlated significantly with
SBP, and WHtR correlated positively with both SBP and DBP.
These findings correspond with those of Dua et al.,51 who
showed a statistically significant positive correlation between
all the anthropometric measures and BP parameters (SBP
and DBP). These findings are also in agreement with other
studies, which found that anthropometric variables such as BMI,
WC and WHtR were frequently positively associated with BP
among employees in West Africa.28 Obesity emerged as a strong
predictor of hypertension among employees in Ghana.31
The high prevalence of overweight/obesity in this study linked
to the prevalence of hypertension agrees with the International
Study of Salt and Blood Pressure,56 which reported a strong,
significant, independent association between BMI and BP. From
the literature, it was revealed that obesity is associated with more
pronounced changes in BP during a 24-hour cycle and a higher
SBP, DBP and pulse pressure, indicating autonomic dysfunction
or hypertension.57 All these risk factors may contribute to the
increase in prevalence of chronic diseases and absenteeism
among employees.58,59
The major constraint of the study was the difficulty in
collecting data from all the municipalities that participated.
Inclusion of all employees from the Vhembe district would have
enriched the data collected. In addition, it was not feasible to
collect 24-hour BP data from the participants due to logistical
challenges. This would have shed more light on the observed
relationships between WC and WHtR measures. It would be
important in future studies to address these challenges.
Conclusion
Females showed a higher percentage of obesity and hypertension
than their male counterparts. The obese group showed a high
prevalence of hypertension compared with the other groups.
Body composition measures were associated with BP parameters
(more especially, BMI, WC and WHtR), which showed a positive
significant relationship in both normal and overweight groups.
Therefore, this study recommends that intervention regimes
designed to address the risk of obesity and hypertension should
focus on the awareness of cardiovascular diseases, impaired
quality of life, and low productivity associated with obesity and
hypertension among local government employees in the Vhembe
district of Limpopo Province.
The willingness of the Vhembe local municipality employees to participate in
the study is highly appreciated. The University of Venda biokineticist interns:
Walter, Precious, Gudani and Merlyn and third-year biokinetics students
Tsakani, Fulufhelo, Pearl, Rixongile, Ruth and Emmanuel are acknowledged
for their roles in data collection and capturing. Furthermore, Ms Frazer
Maake is thanked for her support in organising satellites within the Vhembe
district where the study took place. The financial support by the University of
Venda towards the study is acknowledged.
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