Cardiovascular risk factors in normotensive and hypertensive Egyptians

Objectives To define the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and thei r relation to the level of blood pressure, in Egyptians. Methods Data were collected during the Egyptian National Hypertension proje ct, a national hypertension survey in Egypt. During phase I of the survey, hypertensive (HT) patients were identified. In phase II, clinical and labor atory evaluations were made on HT and gender-matched normotensives (NT). A total of 2313 individuals were examined, 311 NT males, 443 NT females, 670 HT males and 889 HT females. Results The prevalence of obesity was 33 and 47% in hypertensive men and wo men, respectively. After adjusting for age, HT men had significantly higher heart rate, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), fasting blood suga r (FIBS), post-prandial blood sugar (PBS), body mass index and waist/hip (W /H) ratio than their NT counterparts. In addition, HT women had higher low- density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). The prevalence of elevated LDL-C a nd FBS increased with age. The prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia, elevated FBS and obesity rose with increasing level of blood pressure (BP). From th e 25-34 to the 55-64 age group, the percentage of hypertensives with greate r than or equal to 2 risk factors rose from 42.9 to 60.6% in men, and from 9.4 to 46.2% in women. All risk factors were more prevalent in urban popula tions. Conclusion This is one of the few reports on the prevalence of cardiovascul ar risk factors in a developing country. Risk factors cluster with rising l evel of BP and with ageing. Obesity is very prevalent particularly in hyper tensive Egyptian women. Health efforts directed at the prevention and treat ment of obesity should be a high priority. (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & W ilkins.