Socioeconomic Disparities in the Prevalence of Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Ghanaian Women

Abstract

BACKGROUND Recent trends toward urbanization in developing countries like Ghana, coupled with nutritional transition and aging populations, have led to a rapid increase in noncommunicable diseases like obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between socioeconomic status and cardiometabolic risk factors among women in Ghana. METHODS Data for this analysis were obtained from Wave 1 of the Ghana Study of Global Aging and Health, conducted in 2007, and included women 18 years and older. Survey weighted descriptive and multivariable linear regression models were used to examine the association between socioeconomic status and cardiometabolic risk factors. RESULTS Among a total of 1988 women, 48% were 40–64 years old. Almost half of the participants were overweight or obese (47%) and 21% had current hypertension, whereas only 4.3% and 2% of women self-reported a history of hypertension and diabetes, respectively. Adjusted analysis indicated that women with a high school education had 2-fold increased odds of being overweight or obese compared with those with no formal education (odds ratio [OR]: 2.02, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.20–3.42). Women employed in the public sector had almost a 5 times higher odds of being overweight or obese (OR: 4.94, 95% CI: 1.42–17.15), whereas those employed in the private sector or self-employed had reduced odds of diabetes (OR: 0.27, 95% CI: 0.10–0.70) and hypertension (OR: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.21–0.86). CONCLUSION The prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors varies by socioeconomic status among Ghanaian women. Targeted intervention programs to reduce overweight and obesity may begin among Ghanaian women employed in the public sector, and improved access to health care will be critical for timely diagnosis and management of other chronic disease risk factors.

Urbanization and Socioeconomic Disparities in Hypertension among Older Adult Women in Sudan

“…Close to 11% of older adult women in Sudan reported a history of hypertension. This appears to be comparable to results from a similar study of a large nationally representative sample of women in Ghana (11.4%, computed from data for women aged 40 years and over) [23] but lower than worldwide and regional estimates. In an earlier systematic review on hypertension rates in Sub-Saharan Africa, prevalence rates ranged between 6% to 48% [24].…”

Dietary factors and hypertension risk in West Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

“…Of the 10 studies that employed the WHO Stepwise instrument, different combinations of questions to assess the intake of salt, fruits and vegetables, snacks, sweets, fried foods, fats and oils, or alcohol were used (detailed in Table 1) [41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52]. Furthermore, 12 studies used either nonpublished or validated structured questionnaires to assess dietary intake [53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63].…”

Hypertension and Socioeconomic Status in South Central Uganda: A Population-Based Cohort Study

“…The increase in prevalence of hypertension and obesity among other cardiometabolic risk factors in sub-Saharan Africa occurs in parallel to economic transition and lifestyle changes. Western diets and fast-food restaurant style eating have become increasingly common due to globalization of food markets and fast-food chains [2]. This leads to consumption of calorically dense foods without compensating with increase in physical activity [2].…”

“…Western diets and fast-food restaurant style eating have become increasingly common due to globalization of food markets and fast-food chains [2]. This leads to consumption of calorically dense foods without compensating with increase in physical activity [2]. Another possible explanation is that the availability of westernized foods might be dictated by price in many developing countries including Uganda and thus access to these foods is affected by socioeconomic status.…”

“…Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular disease, are emerging causes of mortality and morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa [1]. Cardiometabolic risk factors, including hypertension, obesity and diabetes, are increasing in low-income countries [2]. Hypertension is a major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases such as ischemic heart disease, heart failure and stroke [3].…”