Screening for arrhythmias in secondary school students’ in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: Undetected arrhythmias are the most common cause of sudden cardiac deaths, and the prevalence of primary cardiac arrhythmias increases with age, being twice as common in adolescence as in younger children. The period of secondary school education is a time of participation in active and competitive sports by most adolescents. Since sudden cardiac death often occurs during physical activity of sporting event, it therefore becomes necessary to screen adolescence in secondary school for arrhythmia for purposes of early detection and risk profiling for intervention. Methodology: A multi-staged sampling technique was employed to select 1002 adolescent from 18 secondary school in Port Harcourt. An investigator administered questionnaire was used to obtain relevant biodata and health information; physical examination, anthropometry and a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) was subsequently performed and data analyzed. Results: There were 595 males and 407 females (ratio of 1.5:1), age ranged from 10 to 19years. Seventy-four (7.4%) were underweight, 52 (5.2%) overweight and 29 (2.9%) were obese. Majority of students (96.2%) had normal ECG – sinus rhythm and normal ECG variants (sinus arrhythmia, first degree heart block, incomplete right bundle branch block, AV nodal rhythm, wandering a trial pacemaker, ST segment elevation, premature atrial and ventricular contractions), while 38 (3.8%) had ECG with pathologic abnormalities. The commonest ECG abnormality was prolonged QT interval which was seen in 18 students (47.4% of abnormalities). Conclusion: Some secondary school students in Port Harcourt have potentially life-threatening arrhythmias. Regular screening of adolescents in secondary schools for risk profiling and early intervention is recommended.

Keywords

• arrhythmia
• secondary school students
• port harcourt