Prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in the working population of Navarra

Abstract

A high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors (RFs) has been reported in Spain. The aim of the study is to determine the prevalence of the principal RFs of ischaemic cardiopathy (hypercholesterolaemia, low HDL, smoking, arterial hypertension, hyperglycaemia, obesity and sedentary behaviour) in the working population of Navarra. The present study represents the basic evaluation of an aleatorised intervention test directed at primary prevention. The sample under study consisted of 790 workers (742 men and 48 women). Information was gathered on each worker by means of a standardised questionnaire, by courtesy of the company medical service, and a physical check up was carried out. Total cholesterol and HDL were measured in venous blood by enzymatic autoanalyser. A description was made of the data (percentages of the risk factors and estimation of the averages of continuous variables). 67.2% of the sample had total cholesterol values higher than 200 mg/dl and 26.3% had HDL figures below 35 mg/dl. 7.1% were regular smokers. The prevalence of hypertense individuals was 7.6%. 72.1% reached an index of corporal mass above 25 Kg/m2 and 20.6% classified themselves as sedentary as they did not take exercise in their free time. The prevalence of hyperglycaemia was 1.4%. Only 4.2% of the workers were free of the RFs under study. A high prevalence was detected of hypercholesterolaemia, smoking and overweightedness, which supports the pertinence of establishing intervention programs of primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases in the working ambience.