Prevalence of Cardio-metabolic disorders among Dental Clinic attendees in a Tertiary Hospital, South East, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Cardio-metabolic disorders are associated with dental diseases and they may affect the quality of life of patients with dental disorders.

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus, obesity and hypertension among patients attending dental clinic at Alex-Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki.

Materials and Methods: The study was a cross-sectional descriptive design carried out among 239 participants. The anthropometric, blood pressure, fasting/random blood sugar ((FBS/RBS) measurements were carried out on the participants. The data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23.

Results: The study subjects were 111 males and 128 females. The average age of participants was 38.3±13.9 years. The mean weight, height and body mass index (BMI) of participants were 70.7±13.9kg, 1.6±0.1m and 26.8±5.4kg/m2 respectively. The mean waist circumference, hip circumference and waist: hip ratio were 59.3±25.4cm, 55.5±22.1cm and 1.07±0.3 respectively. The prevalence of obesity using BMI and waist circumference were 25.1% and 21.8% respectively. The prevalence of hypertension was 19.2%. The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 113.4±14.7 mmHg and 70.2±9.7 mmHg with ranges of 101 mmHg and 51 mmHg respectively. Impaired fasting blood glucose was noted in 21.2% of participants. The prevalence of diabetes using FBS and RBS were 14.4% and 4.3% respectively. The mean FBS and RBS were 101.6±41.3 mg/dl and 112.9±52.7 mg/dl with ranges of 286 mg/dl and 440 mg/dl respectively.

Conclusion: With the established prevalence of these non-communicable diseases among dental clinic attendees, it has become imperative to advocate for the use of dental clinic in hospital settings as screening centres for such non- communicable diseases.