Metabolic Syndrome among Obese Primary Care Patients of a Tertiary Hospital in Uyo, South-South, Nigeria (Published)
Metabolic syndrome is responsible for much of the excess cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality among overweight and obese patients.This was a hospital-based cross-sectional descriptive study conducted between February and April 2018. Three hundred and thirty obese patients seen at the general outpatient clinic (GOPC) of University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH) were recruited using systematic random sampling method.Using an interviewer- administered and pre-tested questionnaire, data collected included age, marital status, place of residence, ethnic group, highest level of education attained, physical examination included height, weight, blood pressure and waist circumference. Laboratory indices included fasting blood glucose and lipid profile.Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed based on USA National Cholesterol Education Program Adult treatment panel III (NCEP ATP III) definition. Approval for the study was obtained from the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital Institutional review committee.A total of 330 respondents were recruited for the study. Of these, 128 (38.8%) were male while 202 (61.2%) were female with a mean age of 41.4 [SD = 12.4] years. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 40.6%. There was a statistically significant difference between the mean waist circumference of male respondents compared to that of the female in this study (100.6 [SD= 12/8] male versus 88.4 [SD = 13.4] female p<0.001).The commonest pattern of metabolic syndrome in this study was abdominal obesity, hypertension and hypertriglyceridaemia. Metabolic syndrome is a major health issue among primary care patients seen in the general out-patient clinic of University of Uyo Teaching Hospital. Primary care physicians are encouraged to work at assisting their patients to engage in healthy lifestyle practices.
Keywords: Abdominal obesity, South-south Nigeria., metabolic syndrome, primary care