A Community-Based Study of Hypertension and Cardio-Metabolic Syndrome in Semi-urban and Rural Communities in Nigeria

This work is a critical review of the article titled “A community-based study of hypertension and cardio-metabolic syndrome in semi-urban and rural communities in Nigeria authored by Ulasi Ifeoma. I., Ijoma Chinwuba. K. & Onodugo Obinna. D and published in BMC Health Services Research journal of 2010, volume 10, page 71 with DOI number; doi: 10.1186/1472-6963-10-71 which was retrieved from http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6963/10/71. This review appraised literature related to the subject, evaluated the article structure, authority, relevance, currency, accuracy, stability, and objectivity. Other sections appraised were the tables, recent advances on the subject, accessibility, and credibility of the article. The reviewed original article has its objective as determining the prevalence of Cardio Metabolic Syndrome in rural & semi-urban communities in South-East Nigeria, with attention to the general population and population with hypertension. The authors involved the use a cross-sectional design in this population based study which involved adult residents of the selected communities between the ages of 25 & 65 years. They were screened for metabolic syndrome using standard equipment and interviewed with structured questionnaires. The results yielded prevalence among general population of 18% and 10% for Cardio Metabolic Syndrome in the semi-urban & rural community respectively. While among the group with hypertension, the authors recorded a prevalence of 34.7% and 24.7% in the semi-urban and rural communities respectively. The study demonstrated a high prevalence of Cardio Metabolic Syndrome especially as it concerns semi-urban communities as well among the population with hypertension Fundamentally, this is a current and relevant work in the area of non-communicable disease epidemiology in Africa and can be generalized to Blacks in other parts of the world. The work has contributed significantly to the pool of knowledge and can be referenced in future works as it's also an avenue that can be explored for future collaborations in research regarding this topic. The work was written objectively, clearly presented, easy to understand and accessible for researchers, academicians, clinicians and other players in the health sector and can serve the members of the above-listed groups in their various capacities.