[Prevalence of main cardiovascular risk factors in women from Biscay].
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of principal cardiovascular risk factors in the female population from Biscay (northern Spain).


METHODS
We selected a random representative sample of 1,317 women aged between 16 and 65 years from this province. For each participant we recorded the following parameters: weight and height, physical activity, smoking, blood pressure, glycemia, total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol.


RESULTS
A total of 1,100 women (mean age 39.83 14 years) participated. Regarding physical activity, 31.9% of the women had a sedentary lifestyle and 48.4% did not exercise during leisure time. The prevalence of smoking was 31.9%. We found a mean body mass index of 24.9 4.6 kg/m2, and 42.4% of the women were overweight. The prevalence of hypertension was 13.1%, hypertension being defined as a mean systolic blood pressure > or = 160 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure > or = 95 mmHg, current antihypertensive treatment, or any combination of these criteria. When a cutoff value of > or = 140/90 mmHg was used, the prevalence increased to 26.7%. Total cholesterol values were > or = 240 mg/dl in 26.2%, triglyceride levels were > or = 200 mg/dl in 2.6%, LDL-cholesterol was > or = 160 mg/dl in 26.8%, and HDL-cholesterol values were < 45 mg/dl in 12.2%. The prevalence of hyperglycemia was 3.3%.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalences of main cardiovascular risk factors were similar to those in other Spanish studies. Except for smoking, the rest of these risk factors increased with age. Long-term measures should be adopted to modify dietary habits and lifestyles to obtain improvements in the cardiovascular risk profile.
Magro López
Ana M
AM
Fundación para la Investigación y Docencia de las Enfermedades Cardiovasculares. Instituto de Epidemiología y Prevención de las Enfermedades Cardiovasculares de la UPV/EHU. Bilbao. Spain. ompirezm@lg.ehu.es
Molinero de Miguel
Enrique
E
Sáez Meabe
Yolanda
Y
Narváez Gofinondo
Idoia
I
Sáez de Lafuente Chivite
Jesús P
JP
Sagastagoitia Gorostiza
José D
JD
Escobar Martínez
Antonio
A
Santos Gutiérrez
Mónica
M
Vacas Rius
Marta
M
Iriarte Ezkurdia
José A
JA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013030:Spain