Prevalencia de factores de riesgo vascular en la isla de El Hierro (Islas Canarias)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: It is known that prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in the Canary Islands is very high compared to the rest of Spain and Europe. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and other associated diseases in the population of El Hierro attended in primary or specialized care. Preliminary data from the study are presented. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out at the only hospital on the island. Variables such as hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, smoking, alcohol, sex, age, body mass index (BMI) and cardiovascular disease in 334 patients was collected. Medical histories reviewed were randomly selected among 7300 medical histories, from all adult patients attended in the last 30 years. RESULTS: Mean age was 53.36 ± 19.80 years and 55% were male. Prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors: 39.2% of the study population had hypertension, of whom 70% were receiving antihypertensive therapy; dyslipidemia: 65.3% (44.1% were receiving lipid-lowering therapy); diabetes mellitus type 2: 15%; 24.6% of the study population were obese, while 23.1% were overweight. 36.5% were smokers or had a history of smoking and 24.3% consumed alcohol. Cardiovascular isease: 5.4% had a history of ischemic heart disease, atrial fibrillation 5.1%, 8.4% and valvular 15.6% of left ventricular hypertrophy. CONCLUSION: This study shows a high prevalence of risk factors, higher than that reported by other authors.