Table 1
Sample characteristics of participants aged 18-69, Malawi, 2017.
| Variable | Total (N = 3441) | Men (n = 1237) | Women (n = 2204) |
|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | |
| All | 35.9 | 64.1 | |
| Age (years) | |||
| 18–29 | 44.9 | 47.5 | 42.2 |
| 30–49 | 39.8 | 38.4 | 41.3 |
| 50–69 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 16.6 |
| Education | |||
| Secondary or more | 23.5 | 26.1 | 20.9* |
| Standard 5–8 | 35.5 | 40.4 | 30.6 |
| Standard 1–4 | 31.1 | 28.1 | 34.2 |
| None | 9.9 | 5.5 | 14.3 |
| Employment status | |||
| Nonpaid or unemployed | 57.1 | 71.4 | 43.2* |
| Employed or student | 42.9 | 28.6 | 56.8 |
| Residence | |||
| Rural | 90.0 | 92.0 | 87.9* |
| Urban | 10.0 | 8.0 | 12.1 |
| Self-reported cardiovascular disease | 6.8 | 4.6 | 9.1* |
| Use of anti-hypertensive drug | 2.4 | 0.8 | 4.0* |
| Use of hypoglycemic drug | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Use of lipid-lowering drug | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1* |
| M (SD) | M (SD) | M (SD) | |
| Mean systolic blood pressure, mmHg | 121.1 (15.9) | 122.4 (15.4)* | 119.7 (16.2) |
| Mean body mass index, kg/m2 | 22.6 (4.0) | 21.7 (3.2) | 23.6 (4.4)* |
| Mean total cholesterol, mmol/L | 3.5 (0.9) | 3.3 (0.8) | 3.7 (0.9)* |
| Mean fasting plasma glucose, mmol/L | 4.7 (1.0) | 4.6 (1.4) | 4.8 (1.1)* |
[i] * p < 0.05, men versus women.
Table 2
Ideal cardiovascular health (ICH) metrics distribution (prevalence, %).
| Health metrics | Total sample (N = 3441) | Men (n = 1237) | Women (n = 2204) | Chi-square p-value, Men vs Women | Age: 18–44 years | Age: 45–69 years | Chi-square p-value, 18–44 vs 45–69 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smoking | Poor | 11.4 | 20.9 | 1.7 | <0.001 | 9.9 | 16.4 | <0.001 |
| Intermediate | 4.5 | 8.1 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 9.4 | |||
| Ideal | 84.0 | 70.9 | 97.4 | 87.2 | 74.2 | |||
| Body mass index | Poor | 5.0 | 1.0 | 9.1 | <0.001 | 4.4 | 6.7 | 0.008 |
| Intermediate | 13.2 | 8.3 | 18.1 | 12.3 | 16.5 | |||
| Ideal | 81.8 | 90.7 | 72.8 | 83.3 | 76.7 | |||
| Diet: Fruit and vegetable intake | Poor | 71.3 | 74.8 | 67.8 | 0.066 | 72.2 | 72.3 | 0.833 |
| Intermediate | 17.4 | 15.5 | 19.3 | 16.8 | 17.4 | |||
| Ideal | 11.3 | 9.7 | 13.0 | 11.1 | 10.3 | |||
| Physical activity | Poor | 1.1 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 0.007 | 0.7 | 2.3 | <0.001 |
| Intermediate | 1.1 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 1.7 | |||
| Ideal | 97.8 | 99.0 | 96.7 | 98.4 | 96.1 | |||
| Total cholesterol | Poor | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.2 | <0.001 | 0.5 | 1.9 | <0.001 |
| Intermediate | 4.2 | 2.5 | 6.0 | 3.2 | 9.0 | |||
| Ideal | 95.0 | 97.3 | 92.8 | 96.3 | 89.1 | |||
| Blood pressure | Poor | 15.6 | 14.9 | 16.3 | 0.004 | 11.0 | 30.9 | <0.001 |
| Intermediate | 37.5 | 42.1 | 32.9 | 38.8 | 32.1 | |||
| Ideal | 46.9 | 43.0 | 50.8 | 50.2 | 37.1 | |||
| Fasting plasma glucose | Poor | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 0.307 | 1.3 | 1.7 | <0.001 |
| Intermediate | 5.9 | 4.7 | 7.0 | 4.5 | 9.3 | |||
| Ideal | 92.7 | 93.9 | 91.4 | 94.2 | 89.0 | |||
| 0–2 ICH metrics | 7.4 | 4.9 | 9.9 | <0.001 | 5.9 | 12.9 | <0.001 | |
| 3–4 ICH metrics | 21.2 | 22.3 | 20.0 | 18.4 | 31.2 | |||
| 5–7 ICH metrics) | 71.5 | 72.8 | 70.2 | 75.7 | 55.9 | |||
| Ideal ICHa | 3.3 | 1.6 | 4.9 | <0.001 | 3.9 | 1.0 | <0.001 | |
| Intermediate ICHb | 15.3 | 13.5 | 17.1 | 16.3 | 11.4 | |||
| Poor ICHc | 81.5 | 84.8 | 78.1 | 79.8 | 87.6 |
[i] a ‘All seven ICH metrics at ideal levels in the absence of cardiovascular disease (CVD), b at least one of seven ICH metrics at intermediate levels, no poor ICH metrics in participants without CVD history or if all seven ICH metrics are ideal among persons with a CVD history, c at least one of seven ICH metrics at a poor level in participants without a CVD history or at least one metric is intermediate or poor among persons with a CVD history’ [10, 25].
Table 3
Distribution of ideal cardiovascular health (ICH) metrics in percent among participants.
| Variable | Sample | Proportion of ICH metrics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |
| All | 3441 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 4.5 | 18.6 | 40.3 | 32.3 | 3.6 |
| Age in years | |||||||||
| 18–29 | 1037 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.2 | 12.9 | 40.5 | 40.0 | 4.4 |
| 30–49 | 1588 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 4.9 | 21.0 | 41.1 | 28.6 | 3.5 |
| 50–69 | 816 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 10.3 | 28.9 | 37.3 | 19.8 | 1.3 |
| 45–69 | 1108 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 8.7 | 26.5 | 38.4 | 23.0 | 1.0 |
| Sex | |||||||||
| Female | 2204 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 4.7 | 18.3 | 35.7 | 35.0 | 5.3 |
| Male | 1237 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 4.3 | 18.8 | 44.8 | 29.7 | 1.9 |
| Education | |||||||||
| Secondary or more | 861 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 3.8 | 17.3 | 45.1 | 31.0 | 1.9 |
| Standard 5–8 | 1023 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 3.6 | 14.7 | 39.5 | 37.4 | 4.3 |
| Standard 1–4 | 1073 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 4.7 | 22.4 | 38.5 | 29.9 | 4.1 |
| None | 481 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 9.2 | 23.6 | 37.2 | 24.8 | 3.4 |
| Employment status | |||||||||
| Nonpaid or unemployed | 1963 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 4.5 | 18.1 | 38.5 | 33.5 | 4.6 |
| Employed or student | 2204 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 4.6 | 19.2 | 42.6 | 30.8 | 2.3 |
| Residence | |||||||||
| Rural | 2760 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 4.3 | 17.9 | 40.2 | 33.5 | 3.7 |
| Urban | 681 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 6.5 | 24.9 | 41.1 | 21.7 | 2.9 |
Table 4
Associations with meeting 5-7 ideal cardiovascular health metrics.
| Variable | Crude OR (95% CI) | p-value | Adjusted OR (95% CI) | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | ||||
| Age in years | ||||
| 18–29 | 1 (Reference) | 1 (Reference) | ||
| 30–49 | 0.48 (0.45, 0.66) | <0.001 | 0.49 (0.35, 0.68) | <0.001 |
| 50–69 | 0.24 (0.17, 0.33) | <0.001 | 0.25 (0.17, 0.36) | <0.001 |
| Sex | ||||
| Male | 1 (Reference) | 1 (Reference) | ||
| Female | 0.88 (0.72, 1.08) | 0.219 | 0.98 (0.75, 1.27) | 0.883 |
| Education | ||||
| None | 1 (Reference) | 1 (Reference) | ||
| Standard 1–4 | 1.27 (0.67, 2.40 | 0.459 | 1.03 (0.69, 1.53) | 0.901 |
| Standard 5–8 | 1.91 (1.03, 3.55) | 0.041 | 1.34 (0.88, 2.04) | 0.174 |
| Secondary or more | 2.21 (1.20, 4.08) | 0.011 | 1.13 (0.70, 1.84) | 0.615 |
| Employment status | ||||
| Nonpaid or unemployed | 1 (Reference) | 1 (Reference) | ||
| Employed or student | 1.01 (0.82, 1.24) | 0.927 | 0.97 (0.75, 1.25) | 0.808 |
| Residence | ||||
| Rural | 1 (Reference) | 1 (Reference) | ||
| Urban | 0.58 (0.43, 0.79) | <0.001 | 0.56 (0.40, 0.78) | <0.001 |
| Men | ||||
| Age in years | ||||
| 18–29 | 1 (Reference) | 1 (Reference) | ||
| 30–49 | 0.48 (0.29, 0.79) | 0.004 | 0.49 (0.29, 0.82) | <0.001 |
| 50–69 | 0.19 (0.11, 0.32) | <0.001 | 0.20 (0.11, 0.36) | <0.001 |
| Education | ||||
| None | 1 (Reference) | 1 (Reference) | ||
| Standard 1–4 | 1.38 (0.96, 1.98) | 0.085 | 0.83 (0.40, 1.69) | 0.599 |
| Standard 5–8 | 1.91 (1.32, 2.77) | <0.001 | 1.20 (0.60, 2.43) | 0.605 |
| Secondary or more | 1.64 (1.11, 2.43) | 0.013 | 1.23 (0.60, 2.50) | 0.571 |
| Employment status | ||||
| Nonpaid or unemployed | 1 (Reference) | 1 (Reference) | ||
| Employed or student | 1.11 (0.76, 1.62) | 0.577 | 1.03 (0.67, 1.57) | 0.904 |
| Residence | ||||
| Rural | 1 (Reference) | 1 (Reference) | ||
| Urban | 1.10 (0.72, 1.66) | 0.666 | 1.04 (0.67, 1.62) | 0.855 |
| Women | ||||
| Age in years | ||||
| 18–29 | 1 (Reference) | 1 (Reference) | ||
| 30–49 | 0.49 (0.36, 0.66) | <0.001 | 0.48 (0.35, 0.67) | <0.001 |
| 50–69 | 0.30 (0.21, 0.43) | <0.001 | 0.29 (0.19, 0.43) | <0.001 |
| Education | ||||
| None | 1 (Reference) | 1 (Reference) | ||
| Standard 1–4 | 1.49 (0.98, 2.27) | 0.063 | 1.19 (0.75, 1.89) | 0.464 |
| Standard 5–8 | 1.96 (1.24, 3.10) | 0.004 | 1.50 (0.89, 2.51) | 0.125 |
| Secondary or more | 1.20 (0.69, 2.08) | 0.522 | 0.94 (0.51, 1.74) | 0.839 |
| Employment status | ||||
| Nonpaid or unemployed | 1 (Reference) | 1 (Reference) | ||
| Employed or student | 0.83 (0.65, 1.07) | 0.147 | 0.90 (0.68, 1.19) | 0.456 |
| Residence | ||||
| Rural | 1 (Reference) | 1 (Reference) | ||
| Urban | 0.40 (0.28, 0.56) | <0.001 | 0.40 (0.27, 0.59) | <0.001 |
[i] OR = Odds Ratio; CI = Confidence Intervals.