Epidemiology of cardiovascular risk factors in the Canary Islands (1997-1998): A crossroads between the Mediterranean and Latin American models

Abstract

Background: The highest rates of mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Spain have been documented in the Canary Islands. We were interested in studying the distribution of the cardiovascular risk factors hypercholesterolemia, arterial hypertension, smoking, sedentary lifestyle, obesity, and diabetes mellitus in an adult Canarian population of men and women aged 18-75 years. Method: A descriptive, cross-sectional epidemiological study was designed. It included 1365 individuals: 627 men (45.9%) and 738 women (54.1%). Results In the Canary Islands, there is a high of prevalence hypercholesterolemia, with 30.4% of Canarians between 18 and 75 years (32% of men, 29.1% of women) having serum total cholesterol values higher than or equal to 240 mg/dL. The mean values were 216.3 mg/dL for the total population - 213.1 mg/dL in men and 218.7 mg/dL in women. The prevalence of confirmed arterial hypertension was 18.3%; this proportion increased to 34.3% when borderline hypertension was included; obesity was present in 18.6% of the population - 14.3% in men and 22.3% in women; 33.9% were smokers; and 8.7% had diabetes - 10.8% of men and 7.1% of women. Conclusions: In spite of the heterogeneity observed in various studies of cardiovascular risk factors, it is of interest to note that the Canary Island population demonstrated frequencies of hypercholesterolemia and diabetes greater than those described in Mediterranean and Latin American countries and a greater prevalence of obesity as compared to other national studies, with lower values in relation to Latin Americans.