Risk Factors for Cardiovascular and Ischaemic Heart Disease in a Mediterranean Country Preliminary Report of the Zaragoza Study (ZACARIS-I)

摘要

Objective: The results of large observational studies of cardiovascular disease done in countries like the USA and Germany differ between countries, and extrapolating the findings to Mediterranean populations may be unreliable. We investigated the prevalence of different cardiovascular risk factors and the incidence of ischaemic heart disease in a low-risk Mediterranean population in order to shed light on appropriate measures of primary prevention of ischaemic heart disease in Mediterranean populations.Methods and results: This was a descriptive, longitudinal, 5-year prospective study of a total of 6124 people living in the province of Zaragoza (northeastern Spain) who requested medical assistance for any reason at a primary care setting. The age range of the subjects was 25 to 50 years. Hypertension was recorded when blood pressure was 140/90mm Hg or higher, hypercholesterolaemia when the serum cholesterol level was 240 mg/dl or higher, and diabetes mellitus when the serum glucose level was 126 mg/dl or higher. The prevalence of hypertension was 38.2% in men and 35.9% in women, the prevalence of hypercholesterolaemia was 32.9% in men and 36.1% in women, and the prevalence of diabetes mellitus was 11.6% in men and 10.8% in women. The cumulative 5-year incidence of ischaemic heart disease was 32/1000 in men and 20/1000 in women.Conclusions: The incidence of ischaemic heart disease was low despite the finding that the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors was similar to that in other countries. The risk in women was similar to that in men 10 years older.