• David U Adje, Felicia E Williams, and Azuka C Oparah.
• Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Administration, Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria. a_udave77@yahoo.com.
• Afr Health Sci. 2019 Jun 1; 19 (2): 2112-2120.

BackgroundCardiovascular disease is a major cause of mortality worldwide. Risk assessment has been shown to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. In view of their proximity and accessibility, community pharmacies could be a suitable site for cardiovascular risk assessment and other preventive health activities especially in rural underserved populations. The objective of this study was to assess outcome of cardiovascular risk assessment among rural community dwellers.Materials And MethodsFive hundred and five community dwellers aged 40 to 80 years were recruited for the study. Cardiovascular risk assessment was performed using the region specific WHO/ISH risk assessment charts. Blood pressure, diabetes status, total non- fasting cholesterol, and age were used to estimate risk category. Demographic variables and clinical characteristics were expressed as frequency and percentage. Regression analysis was done to identify predictors of high risk category.ResultsMore than 30% of subjects were hypertensive. Nearly 30% were overweight and had abnormal cholesterol levels. The proportion of subjects in the high risk category was 8.9%. Systolic blood pressure, random blood sugar and advancing age were the highest predictors of high risk category.ConclusionAccessibility, proximity and availability are unique characteristics of community pharmacies that could be exploited to support community based screening services.© 2019 Adje et al.

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