Low prevalence of ideal cardiovascular health metrics in Nigerians: A cross-sectional study

Abstract Background: Ideal cardiovascular health (ICH) is a metric for primordial prevention of cardiovascular disease. Its prevalence in Nigerians is not known. Methods: This cross-sectional study assessed the seven American Heart Association’s ICH metrics of 889 Nigerians. The metrics included nonsmoking, healthy diet, physical activity, body mass index (<25 kg/m2), untreated blood pressure (BP) <120/<80 mmHg, untreated total cholesterol <200 mg/dL, and untreated fasting blood glucose <100 mg/dL). Logistic regressions were used to estimate associations between sociodemographic factors (age and sex) and meeting 5–7 CVH metrics. Results: No one met all 7 of ICH metrics while 70 (7.8%) had 5–7 metrics. The most prevalent and least prevalent ideal biological factors were ideal fasting plasma cholesterol (62.8%) and ideal BP (31.5%), respectively. The most prevalent and least prevalent behavioral factors were ideal smoking status (86.2%) and ideal diet (6.5%) respectively. Compared to males, females had better ideal BP, P = 0.005; better ideal fasting plasma glucose, P = 0.031; better ideal fasting plasma cholesterol, P < 0.001; and ideal smoking status, P < 0.001. Ages 45–64 had better ideal smoking status and ideal physical activity (P < 0.001 and P = 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: There is a low prevalence of ICH among Nigerians. Concerted efforts should be made to improve healthy living among Nigerians.