Determinants of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Among Clinical Health Workers in a Tertiary Health Facility, Accra-Ghana.

Abstract

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, contributing significantly to poor health status and socioeconomic decline, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. It affects all social classes and occupations including health workers, who in addition to other factors, are constantly stressed by overwhelming workloads, high-risk environments, and often poor working conditions. The prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, and obesity in Ghana has been well established, and while other countries report that health workers have lower CVD risk compared to their population, little data exists to establish the same claims for health workers in Ghana. The study made use of risk assessment tools (WHO-CVD and SPARS-CVD models) to assess the 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease development and sought to identify risk factors that significantly contributed to increased risk of cardiovascular events among clinical health workers in Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), Accra. Methodology: The research employed a quantitative cross-sectional design. An estimated 420 participants (including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and allied health staff) were selected from four departments, to form a representative sample. Data on sociodemographic determinants and other potential risk factors for cardiovascular disease were collected through a structured questionnaire. Physical measurements were also taken, and data was organized and analyzed using Microsoft excel 16 and Stata-BE version 17 software. The level of significance (α), was set at p < 0.05. Outcome: The proportion of clinical staff with moderate-to-high 10-year risk of CVD was less than 1% and 1.43% using the WHO-CVD and SPARS-CVD models respectively. Being overweight/obese was the most prevalent metabolic risk factor for both WHO and SPARS models (33% and 28.8% respectively), and a significant number of respondents (40.24%) had unhealthy diet choices.