Abstract

Clinical anecdotal evidence suggests that the risk of cardiovascular disease among adult Nigerians with osteoarthritis (OA) exist, but evidence from analytical research remains scarce in the literature. Therefore, this research was conducted to examine the relationship between OA and certain risk factors for cardiovascular disease in adults in Nigeria. We identified 40 consecutive cases of OA, age- and sex-matched adults who had no symptoms or signs suggestive of OA as controls at the medical outpatient clinics of two tertiary hospitals in Ibadan, Nigeria. Plasma lipids and glucose, as well as serum homocysteine, were determined following standard procedures. Other indices of cardiovascular risk factors included body mass index, waist and hip circumference, and body adiposity index. The associations between OA and the factors were explored using logistic regression analysis at p = 0.05. Participants’ ages ranged from 31 to 74 years. There were four males and 36 females in cases and controls, respectively. The odds of low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (OR=6.71; 95% CI: 4.58, 10.31), high low-density lipoprotein (OR=5.68; 95% CI: 3.74, 11.42), high body adiposity index (OR=1.27; 95% CI: 1.11, 1.46) and high total cholesterol-to-high-density lipoprotein ratio (OR=0.02; 95% CI: 0.01, 0.51) were higher in individuals with OA than controls. Dyslipidaemia and increased adiposity are important risk factors for osteoarthritis in adults in Nigeria. These factors could be useful for routine screening and stratification of cardiovascular risk in susceptible individuals.