Interregional differences in health in Slovenia. II. Estimated prevalence of selected behavioral risk factors for cardiovascular and related diseases.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the prevalence of selected behavioral risk factors for cardiovascular and related diseases in western, central, and eastern region of Slovenia and to determine interregional differences.


METHODS
A national survey on health status and health behavior of the adult population included 15,379 Slovene inhabitants, aged 25 to 64. The overall response rate to a mailed questionnaire was almost 64%, and 9,043 questionnaires were eligible for analysis. Prevalence rates per 100 population (smoking, nutrition, alcohol intake, physical activity, stress) were determined, chi-square test was used for global assessment of interregional differences, and logistic regression for adjusting them for sex and age.


RESULTS
Interregional differences in prevalence were observed in very unhealthy nutrition related to obesity and diabetes (west: 34.0, center: 30.6, east: 41.8; p<0.001), very unhealthy nutrition related to hypertension (west: 25.5, center: 29.4, east: 28.4; p=0.011), very unhealthy nutrition related to atherosclerosis-based diseases (angina pectoris, myocardial and brain infarction, etc.) (west: 33.1, center: 31.8, east: 44.1; p<0.001), heavy alcohol drinking (west: 11.2, center: 12.0, east: 15.2; p<0.001), and physical inactivity (west: 18.0, center: 21.0, east: 15.3; p<0.001), but not in smoking (west: 22.4, center: 24.5, east: 23.9; p=0.230) or stress (west: 23.2, center: 24.4, east: 24.7; p=0.388).


CONCLUSIONS
We confirmed significant interregional differences in the prevalence of most observed behavioral risk factors. In behaviors with statistically significant interregional differences, the highest prevalence was confirmed for eastern Slovenia.
Zaletel-Kragelj
Lijana
L
Department of Public Health, Ljubljana University School of Medicine, Ljubljana, Slovenia. lijana.kragelj@mf.uni-lj.si
Erzen
Ivan
I
Fras
Zlatko
Z
D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D017524:Slovenia / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires