Prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk-factor clustering among persons aged > or = 45 years--Louisiana, 1991-1995.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD), including coronary heart disease, stroke, and hypertensive disease, is the leading cause of death in Louisiana and in the United States and, in 1994, accounted for 43.7% and 45.2% of all deaths among persons aged > or = 45 years in Louisiana and in the United States, respectively. The primary risk factors for CVD are hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, overweight, cigarette smoking, and physical inactivity. The first four of these risk factors may cluster in some persons and have been identified as components of a syndrome known as metabolic cardiovascular syndrome (1) or the "deadly quartet" (2). This syndrome is characterized by a persistent state of insulin resistance and compensatory hyperinsulinemia that may be etiologically related to the four risk factors. Persons with one of the four risk factors are at increased risk for having any of the other three (3). To determine the prevalence of risk-factor clustering among older residents of Louisiana, CDC analyzed data from the 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1995 Louisiana Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). This report summarizes the results of this analysis, which documented a prevalence of clustering of the four risk factors among 1.7% of the respondents aged > or = 45 years.
D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008145:Louisiana / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors