Cardiovascular risk factors in a cohort of healthcare professionals: 15 years of evolution.

BACKGROUND

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cardiovascular diseases (CVD) account for 16.7 million deaths per year. Evidence shows that CVD result from the interaction of multiple risk factors that are present from childhood.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the presence and evolution of several cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) among medical professionals, in a period of 15 years.

METHODS

We analyzed a group of individuals when they entered medical school, and repeated the analysis after 15 years, comparing the data found. We used CVRF questionnaires (systemic arterial hypertension (SAH); diabetes mellitus (DM); dyslipidemia and family history of premature CVD; smoking habit; alcoholism; and sedentary lifestyle). Cholesterol, blood glucose, BP, weight, height, body mass index (BMI) values were determined.

RESULTS

We compared 100 subjects (64.0% men with a mean age of 19.9 years) with a total of 72 subjects (62.5% men, 34.8 years) that were included in the study 15 years later. There was an increase in the prevalence of hypertension (6.0% vs 16.7%, p = 0.024), overweight (9.0% vs 26.4%, p = 0.002), and dyslipidemia (4.0% vs 19.14%, p = 0.002). The other CVRF remained unchanged. Analyzing the values of systolic blood pressure (SBP); diastolic blood pressure (DBP); cholesterol; glucose; and BMI, we found an increase in the mean values of all variables (p < 0.05). We observed a positive correlation between the values of SBP, DBP, BMI, and blood glucose measured in the time interval (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Among medical professionals, there was an elevation in SBP, DBP, glucose, BMI, and cholesterol values in 15 years. In the CVRF prevalence analysis, we found an increase in the prevalence of hypertension, overweight, and dyslipidemia.