Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Mar:156:132-139.
doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2017.12.017. Epub 2018 Feb 20.

Ideal Cardiovascular Health in the southern cone of Latin America

P Seron  1 , V Irazola  2 , A Rubinstein  2 , M Calandrelli  3 , J Ponzo  4 , H Olivera  5 , L Gutierrez  2 , N Elorriaga  2 , R Poggio  2 , F Lanas  6
Affiliations

Ideal Cardiovascular Health in the southern cone of Latin America

P Seron et al. Public Health. 2018 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: The American Heart Association developed the concept of 'Ideal Cardiovascular Health', which is based on the presence of ideal levels across seven health factors. The goal of this study is to assess the prevalence of Ideal Cardiovascular Health in the Southern Cone of Latin America.

Study design: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis as part of CESCAS I cohort.

Methods: This report included 5458 participants aged between 35 and 75 years who were selected using stratified multistage probability sampling in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. Interviews included demographic information, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, and a food frequency questionnaire on dietary habits. Participants were classified as current, former or non-smokers. Weight, height and blood pressure were measured by trained personnel, and fasting cholesterol and glucose plasma levels were measured.

Results: Only 0.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.0-0.2) met the seven criteria that define the Ideal Cardiovascular Health. The least prevalent healthy behaviour was having a healthy diet: 0.5% (95% CI: 0.3-0.7), while the least prevalent health factor was having blood pressure < 120/80 mmHg: 23.6% (95% CI: 22.1-25.0).

Conclusions: The prevalence of Ideal Cardiovascular Health is very low in a representative sample of population from the Southern Cone of Latin America, and the levels of healthy lifestyle behaviours are even lower than ideal biochemical parameters. These results highlight the challenge of developing strategies to improve the levels of Ideal Cardiovascular Health at primary prevention levels.

Keywords: Cardiovascular health; Cardiovascular risk; Prevalence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

COMPETING INTERESTS

The authors declare there is no conflict of interest.

References

    1. Murray CJL, Phil D, Lopez AD. Measuring the global burden of disease. N Engl J Med. 2013;369(5):448–57. - PubMed
    1. O’Donnell MJ, Chin SL, Rangarajan S, Xavier D, Liu L, Zhang H, et al. Global and regional effects of potentially modifiable risk factors associated with acute stroke in 32 countries (INTERSTROKE): a case-control study. Lancet. 2016 Aug;388(10046):761–75. - PubMed
    1. Yusuf S, Hawken S, Ounpuu S, Dans T, Avezum A, Lanas F, McQueen M, Budaj A, Pais P, Varigos J, LLISI Effect of potentially modifiable risk factors associated with myocardial infarction in 52 countries (the INTERHEART study): case-control study. Lancet. 2004;364(9438):937–52. - PubMed
    1. Lloyd-Jones DM, Hong Y, Labarthe D, Mozaffarian D, Appel LJ, Van Horn L, et al. Defining and setting national goals for cardiovascular health promotion and disease reduction: The american heart association’s strategic impact goal through 2020 and beyond. Circulation. 2010;121(4):586–613. - PubMed
    1. Bambs C, Kip KE, Dinga A, Mulukutla SR, Aiyer AN, Reis SE. Low prevalence of ideal cardiovascular health in a community-based population: The heart strategies concentrating on risk evaluation (Heart SCORE) study. Circulation. 2011;123(8):850–7. - PMC - PubMed