title: Cardiovascular risk assessment of Bulgarian urban population: cross-sectional study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the total cardiovascular risk of the Bulgarian urban population.
  
  
  METHODS
  A representative sample of Bulgarian urban population (n=3810, response rate 68.3%) from five Bulgarian cities was included in a cross-sectional observation study performed in the period 2005-2007. A detailed cardiovascular risk assessment was performed by general practitioners and a total 10-year risk of a fatal cardiovascular event was estimated according to the European Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE, HeartScore.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 48.7% of participants in the high risk group (SCORE > or =5%), 24.3% aged 45-54 and more than half aged 55-64 years. Nearly a quarter of the sample had a total cardiovascular risk of over 10% (SCORE > or =10%), whereas 10.1% of the sample had excessively high cardiovascular risk (SCORE > or =15%). In the 65-75 age group, the prevalence of men with excessively high risk was 46.6%, compared with 6.0% in women (P<0.001). Most of the main cardiovascular risk factors were slightly increased or borderline in comparison with clinical thresholds.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cardiovascular risk is high in a large proportion of Bulgarian urban population, especially in men aged over 65. These findings indicate that a comprehensive national strategy and program for management of cardiovascular diseases is urgently needed. The SCORE method can be well implemented if a higher threshold for a high risk group is defined and smaller target population is planned for extensive and expensive high risk preventive measures.
authors.affiliation: Department of preventive medicine, Faculty of Public Health, Medical University-Sofia, 8 Bialo more str., Sofia, Bulgaria. dr_dyakova@abv.bg
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dyakova
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shipkovenska
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dyakov
authors.forename: Plamen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dimitrov
authors.forename: Svetla
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Torbova
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002031:Bulgaria / Q000453:epidemiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019370:Observation; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014505:Urban Population