[Prevalence of atherosclerotic carotid plaques in semi-rural Gueoul, Senegal: Survey of 1411 subjects].

AIMS

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of atherosclerotic carotid plaques and association with cardiovascular risk factors and vascular diseases in a semi-rural area of Gueoul in Senegal.

PATIENTS AND METHOD

This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study over a period of one month in 2012 in Senegalese people who were older than 35 years, and resided in semi-rural Gueoul for at least six months. Carotid plaques were measured with a portable Doppler Diadop 50(®) and defined by an intima-media thickness greater than 1.5mm. P-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

The survey involved 1411 individuals with a sex ratio of 2.93 and an average age of 48.5 years. Prevalence of risk factors was high: dyslipidemia (61.1 %), physical inactivity (56.2 %), abdominal obesity (53.9 %), hypertension (46.4 %), obesity (12 %), diabetes (7.2 %) and smoking (2.5 %). Prevalence of atherosclerotic carotid plaques was 6.8 %, including 42.7 % with bilateral plaques. Prevalence increased with age (P=0.001), hypertension (P=0.0001), diabetes (P=0.004) and metabolic syndrome (P=0.008). There were no significant associations with the other risk factors. The presence of carotid plaques was associated with medical history of stroke (P=0.01), myocardial infarction (P=0.02) and peripheral artery obstructive disease (P=0.5).

CONCLUSION

Prevalence of atherosclerotic carotid plaques seems weak but it is associated with many cardiovascular risk factors. It requires measures for early diagnosis and prevention of cardiovascular diseases in Senegal.