title: [Prevalence of main cardiovascular risk factors in women from Biscay].
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: 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
authors.forename: Ana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Magro López
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Molinero de Miguel
authors.forename: Yolanda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sáez Meabe
authors.forename: Idoia
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Narváez Gofinondo
authors.forename: Jesús P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Sáez de Lafuente Chivite
authors.forename: José D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Sagastagoitia Gorostiza
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Escobar Martínez
authors.forename: Mónica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santos Gutiérrez
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vacas Rius
authors.forename: José A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Iriarte Ezkurdia
mesh_terms: 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