Risk factors for cardiovascular disease in a Brazilian population-based cohort study.
OBJECTIVE
Our aim was to investigate risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a population-based Brazilian cohort.


METHODS
A cohort study was conducted with 1091 individuals identified through multi-stage probability sampling in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Risk factors were investigated among demographic and anthropometric characteristics, including education, smoking habits, income, alcoholic beverage consumption, and blood pressure. A fatal or non-fatal episode of myocardial infarction, stroke, or heart failure, and cases of sudden death comprised the composite endpoint.


RESULTS
Vital status was determined in 982 (90.0%) of the participants of the original cohort after 6.0+/-1.7 years of follow-up. A total of 52 individuals presented a cardiovascular event. Male gender (hazard ratio (HR) 2.01, 95% CI 1.03-3.91), systolic blood pressure (mmHg) (HR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01-1.04) and alcohol consumption (g/day) (HR 1.001, 95% CI 1.00-1.003) were associated with the incidence of CVD after controlling for confounding. Body mass index (HR 1.05, 95% CI 0.99-1.11) and current or previous smoking (HR 1.65, 95% CI 0.83-3.26) showed a trend for a positive association.


CONCLUSIONS
We confirmed that male gender, systolic blood pressure, obesity and smoking are risk factors for cardiovascular disease in a Brazilian population. The positive association between alcohol consumption and incident CVD was unexpected and deserves replication.
Moraes
Renan Stoll
RS
Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Hospital de Cli;nicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre RS, Brazil.
Fuchs
Flávio Danni
FD
Moreira
Leila Beltrami
LB
Wiehe
Mário
M
Pereira
Gerson Martins
GM
Fuchs
Sandra Costa
SC
D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects