Primary Preventive Medication Use and Risk of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Diseases Among Patients with Hypertension and Diabetes Attending Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua Nigeria

Introduction: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVD) constitute a significant health burden in Nigeria. Aspirin and Statin though effective, are not routinely used as primary preventive medication in those with increased risk of CVD. The study aimed to determine the association between the use of primary preventive medication (low-dose soluble aspirin and statin) on the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases among patients with hypertension and diabetes attending Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital(ISTH), Irrua, Nigeria. Methodology: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study of 394 systematically selected adult patients aged 18 years and above, visiting the GOPD, who had hypertension or diabetes mellitus. Data was collected using a pretested questionnaire and the Cardiovascular risk was assessed using the Framingham 10-year Risk of General Cardiovascular Disease Score (FRS). Respondents were categorised as low risk (< 10%), intermediate risk (10 to 20%), and high risk (> 20%). Data were entered into an Excel worksheet (2007) and analysed with Stata version 16. Results: The mean age of participants was 53.95±15.47 years. They were mostly females (55.3%), and civil servants (32.74%) with tertiary education (44.67%). The majority of the patients (42%) had a high risk of developing CVD in 10 years. There was a significant association between intake of aspirin (p=0.01 AOR 18.98, CI: 2.61-137.91) and statin (p=0.01 AOR 5.02, CI: 0.48-56.00) and reduced risk of CVD. Conclusion: There was a high risk of developing CVD among the study participants. The use of low-dose aspirin/statin for primary prevention of CDC was associated with risk reduction with those not on low-dose aspirin and statin having a 6 and 14-fold increased risk of developing CVD respectively. Routine prescription of low-dose aspirin and/or statins is recommended for patients with hypertension and/or diabetes except those in whom the medications are contraindicated.