Table 1
Cardiovascular risk factors prevalence in Sub-Saharan Africa compared to high-income countries and worldwide.
| CVD risk factor | SSA | Western Europe | North America | Global |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smoking in ≥15 years of age [13, 26, 27] | – Total 10% – Males 18% – Females 2.3% | Total 30% – Males 38% – Females 21% | Total 14–21% – Males 16–24% – Females 11–18% | Total 15% – Males 25% – Females 5% |
| Hypertension in adults ≥18 years old [28, 29, 30] | – 30s%* – <40% are aware of their diagnosis – <35% on treatment – <10–20% controlled HTN | – 20s%* – 60–70% aware of their diagnosis – 50% on treatment – 30–40% controlled HTN | – 20s%* – >80% aware of their diagnosis – >70% on treatment – 55–66% controlled HTN | – Men 24%* – Women 20%* |
| Diabetes Mellitus [2, 25, 31] | GBD (all
ages): – Total 3.5% – Men 3.7% – Women 3.3% | GBD (all
ages): – Total 10.2% – Men 11.1% – Women 9.3% | GBD (all
ages): – Total 9.9% – Men 10.9% – Women 8.9% | GBD (all
ages): – Total 6.5% – Men 6.7% – Women 6.2% |
| NCD RFC ≥ 18
years old: – Men 7.1% – Women 7.1% | NCD RFC ≥ 18
years old: – Men 6–8% – Women 3–6% | NCD RFC ≥ 18
years old: – Men 6–8% – Women 5–6% | NCD RFC ≥18
years old: – Total 8.5% – Men 9.0% – Women 7.9% | |
| Hyperlipidaemia ≥18–≥20 years old [32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37] | – Total 25% – High risk ~ 40% | – Total 40–60% – High risk ~ 70% | – Total 40–45 % – High risk ~ 70% | – Total 39% – Men 37% – Women 40% |
| Physical inactivity [38, 39, 40] | – Total 22% – Men 18% – Women 26% | – Total 29% – Men 26% – Women 32% | – Total 30–40 % – Men 25–31% – Women 31–41% | – Total 27% – Men 23% – Women 32% |
| Obesity [34, 41, 42] | – Men 1–15% – Women 2–40% | – Men 12–22% – Women 18–25% | – Men 20–30% – Women 21–35% | – 12% of all adults |
[i] * Age-standardised prevalence; SSA: Sub-Saharan Africa; GBD: Global Burden of Disease (2017); HTN: hypertension; NCD RFC: Non-communicable disease Risk Factor Collaboration systematic review (2014). North America here is USA & Canada.
Table 2
Causes of cardiovascular death including congenital heart disease in decreasing order in sub-Saharan Africa, high-income countries, and worldwide in 2017.
| SSA | Western Europe | North America | Global | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVDs | Number (%) | CVDs | Number (%) | CVDs | Number (%) | CVDs | Number (%) |
| All CVDs | 940,991 (100%) | All CVDs | 1,356970 (100%) | All CVDs | 986,759 (100%) | All CVDs | 18,052,195 (100%) |
| IHD | 369,526 (39.26%) | IHD | 662,226 (48.80%) | IHD | 581,609 (58.94%) | IHD | 8,930,369 (49.47%) |
| Stroke | 317,766 (33.76%) | Stroke | 330,431 (24.35%) | Stroke | 190,423 (19.30%) | Stroke | 6,167,291 (34.16%) |
| HHD | 71,179 (7.56%) | HHD | 74,726 (5.51%) | HHD | 44,682 (4.53%) | HHD | 925,675 (5.13%) |
| CHD | 66,879 (7.12%) | AF/AFL | 67,015 (4.94%) | AF/AFL | 34,532 (3.50%) | CM | 368,535 (2.04%) |
| CM | 24,304 (2.58%) | NRVHD | 46,288 (3.41%) | CM | 31,827 (3.23%) | AF/AFL | 287,241 (1.59%) |
| RHD | 15,920 (1.69%) | CM | 43,621 (3.21%) | NRVHD | 24,323 (2.46%) | RHD | 285,517 (1.58%) |
| AF/AFL | 10,372 (1.10%) | AA | 30,904 (2.28%) | PAD | 17,420 (1.76%) | CHD | 261,247 (1.45%) |
| Endocarditis | 8775 (0.93%) | PAD | 17,420 (1.28%) | AA | 14,992 (1.52%) | AA | 167,248 (0.93%) |
| AA | 7,708 (0.82%) | RHD | 17,336 (1.28%) | RHD | 11,894 (1.21%) | NRVHD | 144,859 (0.80%) |
| NRVHD | 5,114 (0.54%) | Endocarditis | 15,025 (1.11%) | Endocarditis | 10,140 (1.02%) | Endocarditis | 83,390 (0.46%) |
| PAD | 1,951 (0.21%) | CHD | 2,538 (0.19%) | CHD | 3,522 (0.36%) | PAD | 70,168 (0.39%) |
| Other CVDs | 41,492 (4.46%) | Other CVDs | 48,258 (3.64%) | Other CVDs | 21,390 (2.17%) | Other CVDs | 360,650 (2.00%) |
[i] AA (aortic aneurysms); AF/AFL (atrial fibrillation/flutter); IHD (ischemic heart disease); CHD (congenital heart disease); CM (cardiomyopathy); CVDs (cardiovascular diseases): HHD (hypertensive heart disease); NRVHD (non-rheumatic valvular heart disease); PAD (peripheral artery disease); RHD (rheumatic heart disease); SSA (Sub-Saharan Africa). Table shows number of deaths from specific CVDs aetiologies and percentage contribution of each to total CVDs deaths. North America here is USA & Canada. Adapted from Global Burden of Diseases 2017 [2].