The prevalence of the principal cardiovascular risk factors in the population of the Azores

STUDY OBJECTIVE: to characterize the high mortality rate by ischemic heart disease in Azores, by evaluating the main coronary heart disease risk factors prevalence in the population. DESIGN: sample study referring the population of 5 islands: 37 counties. Aleatory choose in the electoral lists. SETTING: the selected individuals were convocated by mail to show up at the Hospital for evaluation. PATIENTS: 1089 individuals selected by aleatory choose from the electoral lists. INTERVENTIONS: the sample was stratified regarding rural (R) and urban (U), by sex feminine (F) and masculine (M), age 20-40 and 40 to 60 years old. All of them were determined three values of blood pressure, and was taken for exact value the medium of the three, inquired the smoking habits and serum lipids were determined. We considered risk factors (RF); blood pressure > 140/90 mmHg, total cholesterol > 200 mg/dl, HDL cholesterol 180 mg/dl and smoking habits were stratified in three scores: 1: 1-10, 2: 11-20, and 3: more than 20 cigarettes a day. MAIN RESULTS: total prevalences; HBP 20.4%, smoking habits 33%, total hypercholesterolemia 47.3%, low HDL cholesterol 17.4% and triglycerides 30.5%. CONCLUSIONS: the values found for total cholesterol, triglycerides and smoking habits were high and superior to the national medium and to those found in reference studies. Preventive strategies are pointed out.