RESUMEN
The aim of this study was to screen for cardiovascular risk factors with particular focus on high blood pressure (BP) in Niger and thereby to raise awareness among the population of Niger about raised BP and the associated risk to health. The city of Niamey served as our study location during the month of May in 2017, 2018, and 2019. We screened volunteer adults aged ≥18 years, who completed a pre-established questionnaire and had three sitting BP measurements taken. Hypertension was defined as a systolic BP ≥140â mmHg or diastolic BP ≥90â mmHg (based on the mean of the second and third BP readings) or being on antihypertensive medication. We screened 2297 adults of which 42.9% were women and 57.1% men. Of the 2297 screened, 33.2% were found to be hypertensive of whom only 26 (3.4%) were recorded as being on treatment. Approximately 30% of those screened were found to be obese or overweight. High BP is a real public health danger, and this study finds alarming figures that highlight the need for improved policies for screening and management of hypertension. Raising awareness and improving detection of hypertension remain essential to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Atypical chest pain in some outpatients could derive from mental disorders. It is necessary for them to have a preliminary emotional assessment in the outpatient department of Cardiology before psychiatric outpatient visits. METHODS: This study included 122 Chinese outpatients with atypical chest pain in the department of Cardiology. They accepted routine examinations, including treadmill test, and were judged by the three-question method as highly likely to have emotional disorders. Then, a standard questionnaire package containing the Chinese version of the seven-item scale for General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) was administered to evaluate anxiety and depression. RESULTS: The percentages of anxiety evaluated by GAD-7 and SAS were 62.3% and 26.2%, respectively. Analogously, the assessment by PHQ-9 showed a significantly higher percentage of depression than that by SDS (61.5% vs 29.5%) (P < 0.05). Kappa analysis showed that the consistency between GAD-7 and SAS, or that between PHQ-9 and SDS was not very good. About 73% outpatients suffered from emotional disorders, presenting as anxiety/depression evaluated by GAD-7 and PHQ-9. Furthermore, sleep disorders accounted for more than 80% of patients with mental disorders. Finally, the suicidal tendency of depression patients was about 17% that should not be ignored. CONCLUSION: Compared with SAS and SDS, GAD-7 and PHQ-9 detected more participants with emotional disorders in the Chinese outpatients with atypical chest pain, indicating that GAD-7 and PHQ-9 could be briefly well-validated tools to screen emotional disorders in the outpatient department of Cardiology before psychiatric visits.