[Cardiovascular risk factor prevalence among a smoking population starting treatment to quit smoking].

BACKGROUND

The prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in the population at large is high, nevertheless, this rate is known to a lesser degree for a smoking population. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in a cohort of smokers who are starting treatment to quit smoking.

METHODS

This is a descriptive study conducted on a sample of 1887 subjects (1098 males and 789 females) within the 20-80 age range. Each one of these subjects underwent a medical examination, a blood pressure check, total cholesterol, basal gylcemia testing and were measured and weighed.

RESULTS

The most prevalent factor was high blood pressure (25%). The prevalence of one or more risk factors related to cigarette smoking was 36.2% (45.3% among males and 23.7% among females, the difference being statistically significant, (chi 2 = 91.4 p < 0.0001). Independently of the number of factors involved, prevalence was always greater among the males. With the exception of bdy mass among males, the prevalence of the rest of the factors showed a significant increase with age among both males and females. Among the males, there was a percentage increase in index related to cigarette smoking. To the contrary, the presence of hypercholesterolemia decreased along with the increase in the amount of smoking.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of the cardiovascular risk factors among a smoking population starting treatment is major. This fact conditions the need of setting up measures for taking action to modify these factors.