Study on Assessment of Cardiovascular risk factors in Our Population

Abstract

Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD; coronary artery, cerebrovascular, and peripheral vascular diseases) are a leading cause of mortality among middle aged and older adults in India,1 with current prevalence estimates of 10–12% in urban and 4–5% in rural adults.2 It is now well known that conventional risk factors (smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, dyslipidemia, unhealthy diet, and reduced physical activity) together account for more than 95% of population-attributable risk for CVD, and novel risk factors have only a small contribution to make.3 These risk factors, attributed to a set of life-style changes are prevalent both in urban and
rural India.4 Objectives: The objective of the present study is to assess the prevalence of important risk factors for CVD among subjects who attended routine outpatient department of our hospital. Methodology: Anthropometric variables such as weight (kg) nearest to 100 g and height (cm) nearest to 0.2 cm were measured using standard equipment and procedures. Three measurements of blood pressure using a mercury sphygmomanometer were taken in reclining position for all men and women. Average reading of the blood pressure was considered for diagnosing hypertension in these individuals. Risk factors such as smoking, tobacco chewing, family history of CVD, history of DM, and hypertension were assessed through interviewed. Hypertension was defined according to the Joint National Committee recommendations as mean systolic blood pressure ≥140 mmHg and/or mean diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mmHg or the use of antihypertensive medications. Body mass index <18.5 kg/m2 was classified as undernutrition, 18.5–24.99 kg/m2 as normal, 25.00–29.99 kg/m2 as overweight, and >30 kg/m2 as obese. For individuals >40 years of age, the 10‑ year risk for fatal or nonfatal major cardiovascular events was estimated using the WHO/International Society of Hypertension (ISH) risk prediction charts. These charts estimate CVD risk on the basis of age, gender, systolic blood pressure, smoking status, and presence/absence of DM.
Discussion & Conclusion: Prevention of CVD is an essential step to control the epidemic of NCDs in India. We conducted a hospital-based cross-sectional study of 250 subjects to study the risk factors for CVD and to estimate the 10-year CVD risk among the eligible participants using the WHO/ISH risk prediction charts. We found gender variation in the prevalence of various CVD risk factors with tobacco chewing and smoking being more common in men, whereas overweight/obesity being more common in women.We found significantly higher prevalence of males consuming tobacco and smoking as compared to females. This high proportion of elevated
cardiovascular risk is a cause of concern and necessitates aggressive preventive efforts. 70% had less than 10% risk, 17% had risk 10 to <20%, 10% had risk 20 to <30%, 2% had 30 to <40% risk and 1% had risk greater than 40%.