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Background & Aims: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is highly prevalent in Suriname, a middle-income country with predominantly people of African and Asian ancestry. We examined whether the more comprehensive body composition measures determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) are superior to the more traditional BMI and waist measures in relation to cardiovascular risk., Methods: Data from the cross-sectional Healthy Life in Suriname (HELISUR) study were used to calculate BMI, waist-hip ratio, waist-to-height ratio, and waist circumference. BIA was used to estimate fat percentage, fat-free mass index, and fat-to-fat-free mass ratio. High cardiovascular risk was defined as 1) a 10-year Framingham coronary heart disease risk score ≥10% in African-Surinamese and ≥12% in Asian-Surinamese, and 2) an increased arterial stiffness (pulse wave velocity >10 m/s). Using logistic regression analysis, we pre-selected the strongest correlate (i.e. lowest p-value below 0.05) of all body composition items for both outcomes of cardiovascular risk separately, and subsequently, used forward logistic regression modelling to determine whether other measures added value to the initial model with the strongest correlate (-2 log-likelihood (-2LL) of initial model minus -2LL of new model, χ-square statistic >3.841, 1 df). Analyses were adjusted for sex, age and ethnicity., Results: We examined 691 participants (65% women; 48% African-Surinamese) with a mean age of 42 (SD 14) years. Waist circumference was the strongest correlate for high 10-year CVD risk in the total group, in men and African-Surinamese. In Asian-Surinamese, fat-free mass index was the strongest correlate of high 10-year CVD risk. Increased arterial stiffness was most strongly related with waist-to-height ratio in the total group and in African-Surinamese, and with BMI in men. None of the measures were significantly associated in women (for both outcomes) and Asian-Surinamese (for increased arterial stiffness). Forward selection showed that only BMI added value next to waist-to-height ratio in the total group in relation to increased arterial stiffness., Conclusions: Waist measures, in particular waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio, and BMI should be used in African and Asian-Surinamese to identify who is at increased cardiovascular risk. Overall, we found little advantage in using BIA measures rather than simple anthropometric measures., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: High blood pressure (BP) is known to be the greatest modifiable risk factor of cardiovascular diseases, of which 80% occur in low-resource and middle-resource settings. Yet, BP measurement in these countries remains extremely poor. In 2005, a WHO committee invited manufacturers to produce devices especially for use in low-resource settings. Our study assesses the accuracy, performance, and acceptability of two submitted oscillometric devices under field circumstances in Suriname (South America), namely, the Microlife BP 3AS1-2 and Omron HEM-SOLAR., Methods: We compared BP measurements of test devices using a conventional Mercury sphygmomanometer, performed by local healthcare workers under field circumstances. Three hundred and forty-two individuals were included. Statistics included t-tests, analysis of variance, and Bland-Altman plots., Results: The mean systolic/diastolic BP differences (SD) were -3.5 (8.0)/-7.0 (6.0) for Omron versus Mercury and -6.4 (7.8)/-6.5 (6.0) mmHg for Microlife versus Mercury. Microlife was more accepted by healthcare workers, and both devices performed adequately under field conditions., Discussion and Conclusion: The acceptability, durability, and performance of both test devices were adequate. However, Microlife BP 3AS1-2 underestimated systolic pressure almost twice as much compared with Omron HEM-SOLAR, with identical diastolic underestimations. Guaranteed global availability, users could make a choice between the Omron HEM-SOLAR being more accurate in BP measurement, and Microlife BP 3AS1-2 being more accepted by healthcare workers.

We present a case report from 2001 of the first parasitologically confirmed case of acute Chagas disease in Suriname. The patient had never left Suriname, and was probably infected by an adventitious species of Panstrongylus in his house in the capital city, Paramaribo. The patient was treated with nifurtimox, and appears to have recovered.