[Cardiovascular risk factors in a population attending a community event on health education]

Abstract

Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the main cause of death in Brazil.

Objective: To evaluate the frequency of CVD risk factors in a population attending a health education community event. METHODS. Retrospective study that included 428 completed forms with clinical and demographic information of volunteers attending a public event, in May, 2006. Data were expressed by means and standard deviation or proportions and compared by Student s t test or Chi-square test. Associations between Arterial Hypertension (AH), Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and clinical variables were analyzed by multinomial logistic regression. Significance level was p <0.05.

Results: Mean age was 57+/-14 years, and women represented 58% of the total population. The main cardiovascular risk factors were AH (39.5%), DM (15.4%) and dyslipidemia (25.8%). The frequency of unawareness about these risk factors was respectively 8.4%, 17.5% and 33.1%.. Family history of CVD was reported by 41% while only 67% reported having any information about DM or dyslipidemia. Among obese individuals (IMC>30 Kg/m2, 27.3% of the population), systolic blood pressure (133+/-16 mm Hg), diastolic blood pressure (84+/-11.5 mm Hg) and casual glycemia (124+/-52.5mg/dl) were higher when compared to non-obese (p<0.05). There was a significant association between obesity and dyslipidemia (p=0.04). Age and IMC were independently associated with AH and DM.

Conclusion: The high frequency of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors in this population suggests the need for educational programs to promote primary prevention, mainly for the elderly and overweight.