Prevalência de fatores de risco modificáveis para doenças cardiovasculares: idosos de zona urbana e rural

Abstract

Brazil will be an old nation by the middle of the century, increasing its number of older adults more rapidly than other countries, and noncommunicable chronic diseases (NCDs) are associated with this aging process. The NCDs are responsible for a considerable number of deaths and disabilities, and among them, Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) stand out. Therefore, it is vital that information about life habits and health condition of the population is considered when establishing public policies. Therefore, it is pertinent to research on cardiovascular risk factors that may interfere in the health of the elderly population. The objective of this study was to verify the prevalence of modifiable risk factors for the development of CVD in older adults living in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The city of Santa Maria has 41 neighborhoods and nine rural districts, with a total population of 276,108 inhabitants, 33,000 wich are seniors, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Three neighborhoods and three rural districts that comprised the smallest, middle and largest income and had the same percentage of elderly, were selected for this study. Thus, 202 elderly from three neighborhoods of different socioeconomic levels and 72 from three rural districts, were selected. Four questionnaires were used for data collection: the Mini Mental State Examination to evaluate cognitive status, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire adapted for the elderly (IPAQ) to estimate the physical activity level (PAL) and an anamnesis for the information about the social, demographic, socioeconomic characteristics, as for lifestyle and general health data. An evaluation form was used to collect anthropometric and hemodynamic data. Statistical analyzes were performed using the SPSS 13.0. First, descriptive statistics were performed. Then the chi-square test was used for the comparisons of the categorical variables between sexes, locality and income. The level of significance was 5% in all tests. There was a significant difference in the PAL between rural and urban elderly and between different incomes and sexes. There was a significant difference in the prevalence of dyslipidemia and hypertension between elderly living in rural and urban areas. Among the sexes, a difference was observed in the prevalence of smoking and high waist circumference. The studied population presented great prevalence of high Body Mass Index (BMI) and systolic blood pressure at risk. There was a significant difference in the prevalence of modifiable risk factors between the urban and rural environments, with the elderly in the urban environment presented a higher prevalence of risk factors compared to those in the rural áreas. In addition, the elderly with lower income presented a higher prevalence of modifiable risk factors and women had a higher prevalence of risk factors compared to men.