SOCIO-CLINICAL DEMOGRAPHICS AND RISK FACTORS FOR HEART FAILURE AT A TERTIARY HOSPITAL IN SOUTH-SOUTH NIGERIA: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.

Introduction: Heart failure is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among patients globally. It is a prevalent syndrome with poor prognosis, for which identification of variables that increase mortality and are treatable might lead to improved survival. This study aimed to find the pattern of socioclinical demographics and the risk factors of heart failure at a tertiary hospital in Nigeria. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study done looking at 175 inpatient and outpatient heart failure cases diagnosed using Framingham's criteria and transthoraxic echocardiography. Results: The mean age was 56.33+/-16.94 years. There were more males than females, with a male to female ratio of 1.2:1. Majority(54.3%) of the patients studied were in the occupational class I(Senior public servants, professionals, managers, large scale traders, businessmen and contractors). About 15% of patients had no formal education, while about 40% had a tertiary level education. A majority had a history of hypertension (61.1%), while about 25% had a history of diabetes. There was a history of alcohol use in 44% of participants with a history of angina being present in about 20% of patients. Fifteen percent had a history of tobacco use, while the least represented risk factors were history of valvular heart disease (3.4%), family history of sudden death (2.9%), and family history of heart disease (0.1%). Conclusion: Heart failure was more common in middle age group, males, married individuals, social class 1 and those with a tertiary level of education. Orthopnea was the most common presenting feature. Hypertensive heart disease was the most common risk factor, and other risk factors included diabetes and alcohol use.