Nigerians unaware of rising rate of heart disease in the country –NOI Polls

Latest weekly poll results released by NOIPolls Limited have revealed that 52 percent of the adult Nigerian population are unaware of cases of heart disease in their locality; hence the neglect of vital signs and risk factors resulting into incidents of heart disease by the majority. More findings have revealed that majority (67 percent) of the respondents stated that they have checked/measured their blood pressure in the last one year; and when asked about the result of the check, the vast majority (82 percent) reported that their blood pressure was normal. Only 6percent stated that their blood pressure was high, 4 percent stated low and 8 percent either did not know/remember or refused to answer. The group composed of respondents of 61+ years and above (28 percent) had the highest proportion of respondents with high blood pressure, followed by the 46 to 60 years group with 10 percent. Furthermore, the BMI calculated using the height and weight scores

of the 441 respondents who provided these details (44 percent of the total) revealed that almost half (48 percent) of the respondents are either overweight or obese (which are considered as risk factors for cardiovascular disease). These were the key findings from the Cardiovascular (Heart) Disease Poll conducted in the week of May 19th 2014.

Brief Background

Cardiovascular disease (also called heart disease) is a class of diseases that involve the heart and the blood vessels or both. It is the leading cause of deaths worldwide and 80 percent of the burden of Cardiovascular diseases now occur in developing countries, although, since the 1970s, cardiovascular mortality rates have declined in many high income countries. At the same time, cardiovascular deaths and disease have increased at a fast rate in low- and middle-income countries. Although cardiovascular disease usually affects older adults, the antecedents of cardiovascular disease, notably atherosclerosis (narrowing of blood vessels), begin in early life, making primary prevention efforts necessary from childhood.

The most common manifestations of cardiovascular disease are coronary artery disease; leading to high blood pressure, heart failure, cerebrovascular disease – disease of blood vessels that supply blood to the brain such as stroke, peripheral arterial disease – disease of blood vessels that supply blood to the arms and legs etc. The common terms used terms for these are “Heart Attack”, “Stroke” and “Hypertension”.

Against this background, NOIPolls and EpiAfric have partnered to conduct a poll on the issue of cardiovascular disease. Using a questionnaire that was jointly designed by EpiAfric and NOIPolls, we collected data from 1,000 Nigerians. The objective of the poll was to understand the risk of cardiovascular disease in Nigeria. This was done by measuring the exposure of Nigerians to known risk factors of cardiovascular disease.

Key findings

Poll results show that majority of respondents (52 percent) were not aware of cardiovascular disease in their locality. However almost half (48 percent) of the adult Nigerian population are familiar with heart disease. Furthermore, the highest level of awareness on cardiovascular disease was expressed by respondents from the North-East zone (65percent), senior citizens aged 61 years and above (63 percent) as well as teenagers and young adults who are 18-21 years of age (60 percent). Further findings aimed at gauging the level of concern of Nigerians on heart/cardiovascular disease indicated that majority (77 percent) of Nigerians are not concerned about personally being at risk of having cardiovascular disease and this apparent lack of concern cuts across gender, all geopolitical zones and age-groups.

The poll further revealed that about two-thirds (67 percent) of the respondents claimed they have

checked/measured their blood pressure in the last 1 year with the highest recorded in the South-South zone (78percent). It was also discovered that this check could either be deliberate or as part of the procedures during a visit to a health facility. Findings indicated that the vast majority (85 percent) of respondents, irrespective of gender, age or geopolitical zones, stated that their blood pressure was at normal, and 6 percent reported their blood pressure as high. Respondents aged 61 years and above (28 percent) had the highest proportion with high blood pressure.

Furthermore, an evaluation of the BMI calculated using the height and weight of respondents revealed that in total, about half of respondents (48 percent) are either overweight (25 percent) or obese (23 percent) thus exposing them to an increased risk of heart disease.

Finally, the poll has established that, although many Nigerians are exposed to one or more risk factors of cardiovascular disease, the majority do not think that they are personally at risk of the disease. Our findings suggest that Nigerians may not fully understand that some lifestyle habits are also risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The increase in cardiovascular diseases in countries that still have a large burden of infectious diseases has been described as the “double burden” of disease that threatens to overwhelm the health services of many resource-poor  countries. As Nigeria continues to grapple with its large burden of TB, HIV, Malaria and other communicable diseases, it is important to also focus on the increasing burden of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease.

Survey methods

These are findings on a poll opinion conducted between May 19th to 20th 2014 by NOIPolls Limited. A sample of 1,000 randomly selected phone-owning Nigerian adults, aged 18 years and above, representing the six geopolitical zones in the country, were interviewed by telephone using randomly generated numbers. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage and measurement error, however with a sample of this size there is 95 percent confidence that the results obtained are statistically accurate (giving a range of plus or minus 3 percent).

NOIPolls Limited, No.1 for country-specific polling services in West Africa, works in technical partnership with the Gallup Organisation (USA), to conduct periodic opinion polls and studies on various socio-economic and political issues in Nigeria. 

More information is available at www.noi-polls.com.