Abdominal obesity, serum estradiol and cardiovascular risk among Nigerian postmenopausal women: a cross-sectional study.

Abstract

Rates of cardiovascular (CV) disease mortality is usually higher in men but this equalizes with that of women following menopause. This was to determine the contribution of abdominal obesity and estradiol to cardiovascular risk in postmenopausal women (PMW) as well as estimate their CV risk profile. 271 consenting PMW were recruited consecutively into this cross-sectional hospital-based study. Data relating to their socio-demography, blood pressure and anthropometry was obtained and laboratory analysis of lipid profile and serum estradiol was done. Cardiovascular risk of participants was estimated using standardized calculators. Mean age of participants was 57.8±5.5 years. Significant correlation existed between each of triglyceride (Positive), High Density Lipoprotein (negative) and Waist-Hip-Ratio (WHR) (p=0.001 and 0.000 respectively). Hypertension and dyslipidaemia were significantly associated with WHR (p=0.01 and 0.031 respectively). Significant negative correlation existed between CV risk profile and serum estradiol (rs = -0.140, p = 0.028). Ten-unit increase in WHR was associated with two-fold risk of hypertension (OR> 1.73, C.I.= 1.13-2.66). A unit change in age was associated with 0.61 increase in TC. Abdominal obesity and serum estradiol significantly influence cardio-metabolic risk. Newer risk calculator which incorporates factors peculiar to women such as serum E2 is hereby recommended.