Resting Electrocardiographic Abnormalities in Patients at the Medical Outpatient Clinics of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana
The electrocardiogram (ECG) is an objective quantitative record of electrical action currents generated at each contraction of the heart muscle as a function of time and is used in investigating in patients with cardiac conditions and in cardiovascular surveys. The objective for this study was to determine the prevalence of ECG abnormalities in patients reporting at the medical outpatient clinics of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH). This was a cross-sectional study undertaken in the outpatient clinics of KATH and a total of 572 patients were recruited. These were patients aged 20 years and over who were reporting for the first time to KATH. A questionnaire was administered after obtaining informed consent, anthropometric measurements were then taken and blood investigations including fasting blood glucose were undertaken. ECG was recorded using a Fukuda Denshi FCP-4101 machine. Almost 60% had one or more ECG abnormalities while at least one patient had 6 different kinds of these abnormalities. The commonest abnormality was prolonged QT (23%) followed by left ventricular hypertrophy (16%), axis deviation (15%), left atrial enlargement (14%) and ST-T changes (13%). And all these abnormalities were significantly common in patients with hypertension and males with the exception of prolonged QT which was more common in the females. In conclusion among the medical outpatients attending clinics in the medical outpatient department at KATH, ECG abnormalities were very common and they were more prevalent in patients with hypertension and in male patients.
Electrocardiogram, ECG Abnormalities, Hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus
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