Prevalence of angina and cardiovascular risk factors in the different regions of Spain: PANES study

Introduction and objective. The study of angina prevalence has received lit tle attention in the analysis of the dimension of coronary heart disease. T he aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of angina and cardiova scular risk factors in the 45 to 74 year-old population of the different au tonomous regions of Spain. Methods. A sample of 10.248 subjects was recruited. Sampling was stratified by gender and age groups (45-54, 55-64 and 65 to 74 years), and proportion al to the population distribution of the different; autonomous regions. A m ultistage sampling was performed, firstly 200 villages were randomly select ed, secondly three different; socio-economic household were chosen. Sample unit was neighbouring household. Rose questionnaire of angina and a structu red questionnaire to collect socio-demographic and risk factor variables we re administered. Results. Angina prevalence in the 45 to 74 year-old Spanish population was 7.5%. The autonomous regions with the higher and lower prevalence were Bale ares (11.4%) and Basque Country (3.1%), respectively. The Pearson correlati on coefficient between angina prevalence and ischemic heart disease or card iovascular disease mortality in men and women was 0.52 and 0.55, and 0.31 a nd 0.44, respectively. The self reported prevalence of hypertension, dislip emia, diabetes and smoking was 31.1%, 24.2%, 14.3% and 34.6% respectively. Conclusions. Angina prevalence in Spain is similar to that of developed cou ntries although significant differences were observed among the autonomous regions of Spain. These differences correlate with those observed in ischem ic heart disease or cardiovascular mortality among them and are associated with the cardiovascular risk factors prevalence which also varies among com munities.