Changes in patient profiles in the cardiology department of the University Hospital Gabriel Touré (UH-GT) : results of two cross-sectional studies of 2010 and 2022

TL;DR

This study compares patient profiles in a cardiology department in 2010 and 2022, finding changes in hypertension, smoking, and blood pressure trends.

Contribution

The study provides empirical evidence on changing cardiovascular risk factors in a specific hospital setting over a 12-year period.

Findings

Hypertension prevalence increased from 59.1% to 71.8% between 2010 and 2022.

Tobacco smoking decreased significantly from 13% to 5.4% during the study period.

Average systolic and diastolic blood pressures decreased significantly over the 12 years.

Abstract

Little is known about patient profile changes in medical facilities in our country, leading to this study to describe and compare patient profiles in 2010 and 2022.

This was a cross-sectional study with new outpatients aged 15 years and more seen in the cardiology department of the UH-GT. Measurements included height, weight and body mass index (BMI). Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were recorded. Quantitative data are presented as the mean with standard deviation, and categorical one as proportions. Statistical tests were the t test to compare means and chi-test for categorical variables. The level of significance was set to 0.05.

The sample consisted of 515 new patients (199 in 2010 and 316 in 2022) with 59.1% female in 2010 and 60.1% in 2022 (p = 0.821). We noticed an increase in hypertension (59.1–71.8%, p = 0.003) and a decrease in tobacco smoking (from 13 to 05.4%, p = 0.002) and stroke (from 05.8 to 02.2%, p = 0.033). Height increased significantly from 1.59 m to 1.66 m, p = 0.002. SBP and DBP showed significant decreases in their means from 155.43 to 144.97 mmHg, p = < 0.001 for SBP and from 95.53 to 89.02 mmHg, p = < 0.001 for DBP.

Cardiovascular risk factors showed different trends with decreasing tobacco smoking, similar to systolic and diastolic blood pressure, albeit with an increase in hypertension prevalence. Other CVrf values increased. Awareness campaigns must be reinforced and maintained to obtain their decrease.