Radiographic measurement of cardiothoracic ratio and associated factors among adults coming for chest x-ray at Gamby Teaching General Hospital, Bahir Dar, Northwest Ethiopia, 2020

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) is one of the commonest ways of measuring heart size, diagnosis of cardiovascular disease and screening of cardiomegaly. The CTR is tabulated as the maximum transverse cardiac diameter (TCD) divided by the maximum transverse thoracic diameter (TTD). The upper limit of CTR in normal adults was generally considered to be 0.5. Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess radiographic measurement of cardiothoracic ratio and associated factors among adults coming for chest x-ray at Gamby Teaching General Hospital, Bahir Dar, Northwest Ethiopia, 2020. Methods: Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among adult study subjects in Gamby Teaching General Hospital from February 10 to April 30/2020. A total of 250 adult study subjects, selected by a systematic random sampling method were included in our study. The data were collected using an interview questionnaire and measurements. The collected data were entered into Epi-data and transferred to SPSS for clearing and analysis. Bivariable and multiple linear regressions were fitted and p-value less than 0.05 was statically significant. Results: Among 250 study subjects 135 (54%) males and 115 (46%) were females.The average values of CTR was (0.46 ? 0.035, TCD was (12.46 ? 1.353cm) and TTD was (27.05 ? 2.233cm). The mean value of CTR (0.4579 ? 0.036) of males was insignificantly different from females (0.4651 ? 0.034) (p=0.102). The average values of males TCD (12.98 ? 1.32) and TTD (28.35 ? 1.85) were significantly different from females TCD (11.85 ? 1.12) and TTD (25.52 ? 1.58) (p=0.000).The CTR of the total study subjects had statistically significant weak positive correlation with age, weight, body mass index (BMI), body surface area (BSA), waist circumference, hip circumference and waist to hip ratio.The TCD had statistically significant strong positive correlation with weight, BMI, BSA, waist circumference and hip circumference. In multivariable linear regression analysis, body mass index (BMI), smoking cigarettes and sex were significantly associated with CTR of study subjects (p<0.05, R2=0.141). Conclusion:The mean values of CTR, TCD and TTD of the study subjects were 0.46, 12.46cm and 27.05cm, respectively. The anthropometric parameters were weakly correlated with CTR but strongly correlated with TCD