Pattern of specific comorbidities and the association with overweight and obesity in adults attending a tertiary hospital in Rivers State, Nigeria

Aims: Overweight and obesity constitute a major risk to the development of chronic non communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidaemias, osteoarthritis which in turn impact on the individual, the family and the community. This study explored specific comorbidities associated with overweight and obesity among adults attending the Family Medicine Clinic of a tertiary health centre in Nigeria.
Methods: This was a descriptive hospital-based study. A combination of structured questionnaires, physical examination and laboratory analysis were used to generate appropriate data. The information was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. Chi square (x2) and Fisher’s exact test were used to investigate the association between variables and the level of significance was set at p<0.05.
Results: The mean age of the subjects was 44.9±13.8years. Females constituted the majority (64.4%) with a female to male ratio of 1.8:1. While 55 persons (28.4%) were normal weight, 63 (32.5%) were overweight, 36 (18.5%) had class 1, 27 (13.9%) had class 2 obesity and 8 (4.1%) were morbidly obese. The prevalence of overweight/obesity was 69.1%. There was a significant relationship between overweight/obesity with previous diagnosis of hypertension and osteoarthritis but not with a previous diagnosis of DM. There was no statistically significant relationship between overweight/obesity and elevated BP, abnormal gait and blood glucose; however, the relationship with total cholesterol was significant.
Conclusion: This study highlights a high prevalence of overweight/obesity and the association with specific comorbidities in the Nigeria.