title: Prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors among attendees of the Batu 9, Cheras Health Centre, Selangor, Malaysia.
abstract: This study describes the prevalence of selected cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors screened in patients 30 years and above attending a health centre in Cheras, Selangor. The study involved 3772 patients screened from March 2002 to June 2008. Risk factors screened included blood pressure, height, weight, serum total cholesterol, random blood sugar levels and smoking status. Majority of respondents were between 40 and 49 years of age (58.1%), males (64.7%) and ethnic Malays (74.4%). About two thirds (62.6%) were found to be overweight or obese, two fifths (40.2%) had hypercholesterolemia, a third (34.2%) had hypertension and 31.6% were smokers at some time. Overall 87% and 60% had at least one and two CVD risk factors respectively. Prevalence of four of the five risk factors screened was highest among the Malay middle aged men and lowest among the Chinese. Thus a substantial proportion of middle aged men were at high risk of CVD. Our findings show the need for ongoing monitoring of CVD risk factors and implementation of effective preventive strategies.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Hospital Kuala Lumpur. amplavanar@yahoo.com
authors.forename: N T
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Amplavanar
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gurpreet
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Salmiah
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Odhayakumar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D002784:Cholesterol