title: Prevalence of classical risk factors in Polish women with premature coronary artery disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is generally believed that in 50% of perimenopausal women several factors other than classical risk factors play a significant role in the development of premature coronary artery disease (CAD).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of five classical risk factors (cigarette smoking, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidaemia and obesity) in women aged〈 55 years with premature CAD.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a single-centre, case-control study in women〈 55 years with angiographically confirmed CAD or troponin-positive acute coronary syndrome. A total of 330 female patients were enrolled between April 2005 and January 2008. The control group consisted of 347 age-matched healthy women from a similar region selected from the National Health Survey WOBASZ study (Polish Multi-centre Population Health Survey) designed to assess the cardiovascular risk in the Polish adult population.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared to age-matched healthy controls, women with premature CAD had a very high prevalence of traditional risk factors - hypercholesterolaemia (82% vs 68%), smoking (current and former) (81% vs 48%), and hypertension (68% vs 42%). Women with premature CAD had 4.3 times more often diabetes, 1.68 times smoking and 1.63 times hypertension compared to controls. At least one of five classical risk factors was present in 98.8% of patients, compared to 89% in controls, while 10% of patients vs 1.4% of controls had all five of them.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Classical risk factors are present in the vast majority of females with premature CAD - in 99% of them at least one CAD risk factor is present. Premature CAD is most frequently associated with smoking, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Coronary Heart Disease, Institute of Cardiology, Warsaw, Poland. blubiszewska@ikard.pl
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lubiszewska
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Skóra
authors.forename: Mariusz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kruk
authors.forename: Grazyna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Broda
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ksiezycka
authors.forename: Paweł
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kurjata
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zieliński
authors.forename: Rafał
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Płoski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D015984:Causality; D015897:Comorbidity; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006949:Hyperlipidemias / Q000453:epidemiology; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D016387:Women's Health