Abstract P206: The Risk for Cardiovascular Disease Attributable to Traditional Risk Factors Increases

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity. Traditional risk factors include systolic blood pressure, diabetes, adiposity, cholesterol and smoking. The prevalence and distribution of these risk factors in the population have changed within the last decades and CVD mortality rates have been declining. However, the impact of these changes on the contribution of the single risk factors to overall CVD risk remains to be investigated. Hypothesis: We assessed the hypothesis that the population attributable risk (PAR) of traditional risk factors changes from 1985 to 2000. Methods: The sample comprises N = 11 760 participants aged 30 - 65 years from four prospective population-based cohort studies enrolled in Southern Germany in 1985, 1990, 1995, and 2000. Participants were followed up for incident CVD events for ten years. We analyzed the traditional risk factors hypertension, defined as systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg or treatment with antihypertensive medication; di...