Sex Differences in Cardiovascular Risk Factors in a Rural Community from North Romania Region
Autori:
Irina Iuliana COSTACHE, Egidia MIFTODE, Ovidiu MITU, Viviana AURSULESEI
Cod: ISSN: 1583-3410 (print), ISSN: 1584-5397 (electronic)
Dimensiuni: pp. 204-214
How to cite this article:Costache, I.I., Miftode, E., Mitu, O., Aursulesei, V. (2016). Sex Differences in Cardiovascular Risk Factors in a Rural Community from North Romania Region. Revista de Cercetare si Interventie Sociala, 55, 204-214. |
Abstract:
The prevalence of coronary heart disease is higher in men but the prevalence
of stroke and the annual number of cardiovascular deaths are higher in women.
Despite these findings, the cardiovascular risk in the female population is still
underestimated. The present study aimed to identify cardiovascular risk factors
and correlations with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in 285 patients from
a rural community in Romania, aged between 26-92 years, 187 (65,6%) females,
98 (34,4%) males, in order to establish gender differences. Traditional risk factors
were assessed. We used descriptive statistic methods to calculate the average and
standard deviation of the assessed parameters. Divided by gender, the cardiovascular
risk factors presented important differences. Almost all cardiovascular
risk factors were more importantly represented in the female group: type 2 diabetes
mellitus (73.0%), chronic stress (70.0%), family history of cardiovascular disease
(57.0%). Obesity was frequent in females but with no statistical difference. Of all
the women, 57.9% had arterial hypertension compared to men (27.7%) the statistical
significance being almost insignificant (p = 0.052). Women had 4.3 times
greater odds of obesity, 14.2 fold increased odds for abdominal adiposity, 2.8
times greater odds of high waist-hip-ratio and more than three-fold greater odds
of having metabolic syndrome (p = 0.001). Among men, BMI and waist circumference
were significantly correlated with blood pressure, triglycerides, total,
LDL-, and HDL-cholesterol and fasting glucose; in women, only blood pressure
was positively associated with BMI and waist circumference. Further studies are
needed to establish the correlation between gender and cardiovascular risk factors.
Keywords:
cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular risk factors, coronary heart disease, stroke, metabolic syndrome.
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