Publication
Vascular risk factors in the Swiss population
Journal Paper/Review - Apr 15, 2005
Nedeltchev Krassen, Swiss Heart Foundation, Mattle Heinrich P, Tettenborn Barbara, Sztajzel Roman, Hayoz Daniel, Erne Paul, Devuyst Gerald, Baumgartner Ralf, Arnold Marcel, Cerebrovascular Working Group of Switzerland
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PubMed
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Journal
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Issn Print
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Brief description/objective
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Identification of the population at risk of stroke remains the best approach to assess the burden of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
METHODS
The prevalence of hypertension (HT), hypercholesterolemia (HCh), diabetes mellitus (DM), overweight (OW), obesity (OB), tobacco use (SM), and their combinations was examined in 4,458 Swiss persons (1,741 men and 2,717 women, mean age 57.8 +/- 15 years), who volunteered for the present survey.
RESULTS
OW was the most prevalent risk factor (50 %), followed by HT (47%), HCh (33%), SM (13 %) and DM (1.6 %). The proportion of persons without risk factors (RF) was 19.9%, with 1 RF 41.5%, 2 RF 33.8%, 3 RF 4%, and 4 RF 0.9%. OW was more prevalent in men than in women (53% vs. 41%, P=0.02). More men than women aged 41-50 years and 51-60 years had HT (49 % vs. 36%, P=0.01, and 52 % vs. 42%, P=0.02). The prevalence of HCh and DM did not show any sex-related differences. HT, OW and HCh were not only the most common single risk factors, but were also most likely to aggregate with each other.
CONCLUSIONS
The majority of Swiss people have one or two vascular risk factors. OW and HT are by far most common and are likely to aggregate with each other. A small modification of these two factors would reduce the incidence of stroke and myocardial infarction significantly.