[Cardiovascular disease epidemiology and risk factors in primary care]

Abstract

Introduction and objectives: To study the prevalence of and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in primary care.

Patients and method: A cross-sectional study was carried out at an urban health center in Barcelona, Spain. In total, 2248 patients > or =15 years old were selected randomly from medical records. The study investigated cardiovascular diseases such as ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and peripheral arterial disease, and cardiovascular risk factors such as age, sex, smoking, high blood pressure, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and diabetes mellitus.

Results: The patients' mean age was 49.1 (18.9) years and 53.5% were male. Cardiovascular risk factor prevalences were: smoking, 35.2%; high blood pressure, 33.7%; hypercholesterolemia, 21.9%; hypertriglyceridemia,12.7%; and diabetes mellitus, 15.8%. Overall, 57.9% of patients had at least 1 cardiovascular risk factor. Significantly more males presented with each risk factor (P<.05), apart from high blood pressure. The prevalence of all risk factors, except smoking, increased with age until 74 years and then stabilized, except high blood pressure, which continued to increase. Around 10% had cardiovascular disease, with myocardial ischemia in 5.5%, cerebrovascular disease in 3.7%, and peripheral arterial disease in 2.4%. All except cerebrovascular disease were significantly more common in males (P<.05). The prevalence of cardiovascular disease was low in individuals <55 years old, particularly women, and increased with age for all forms of disease. Some 68.3% were > or =65 years old.

Conclusions: The high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors was confirmed. Cardiovascular disease was more common in males and the elderly.