Evaluation of the Risk Factors of Atherosclerosis in Patients Visiting a Primary Health Care Center
Audronė Dukavičienė, Vaiva Hendrixson
Objective. The aim of our study was to evaluate the risk factors of atherosclerosis in patients visiting a primary health care center.
Patients and methods. One hundred men aged 50-70 were investigated. Arterial blood pressure (BP) and body mass index (BMI) were measured. Concentrations of total cholesterol (TCh), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-Ch), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-Ch), and trigly- cerydes (TG) in the blood serum of patients were tested. All patients were questioned about their smoking habits.
Results. We found that all patients were overweight. Ninety one percent of patients had systolic hypertension, whereas diastolic BP was normal in most patients. More than half the pa - tients were non-smokers. Concentrations of all indices of lipidogram, except serum HDL-Ch and TG, were higher than recommended. A statistically significant correlation between concentrations of TCh and LDL-Ch was found. Our results showed a positive correlation between systolic and diastolic BP and between TCh and TG and a negative correlation between HDL-Ch and TG. We also found a statistically significant correlation between TCh, LDL-Ch and systolic BP. The relationship between smoking and indices of lipidogram was weak.
Conclusions. We discovered that most men visiting the primary health care center were overweight and had systolic hypertension and high serum TCh and LDL-Ch levels. Statistically significant correlation between concentrations of TCh, LDL-Ch and systolic blood pressure show the risk of atherosclerosis. Our results do not support smoking as a risk factor of atherosclerosis, because we did not find any significant relation between smoking and indices of lipidogram.
Keywords: atherosclerosis, cholesterol, lipoproteins, primary health care.
