Cardiovascular risk factors in a healthy population in the Croatian centre for cardiac rehabilitation

Funding Acknowledgements

Type of funding sources: None.

Introduction

According to the statistics of the WHO, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death. The problem of CVD is the fact that they do not give the right symptoms, and often lead to personal or public health problems. The first signs of CVD may be an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or cerebrovascular insult (CVI) and it is important that the cause of them is a combination of risk factors (RF) that we can influence. High cardiovascular risk, due to the presence of one or more RF, requires early intervention with the aim of timely prevention of possible new complications.

Purpose

The aim of the retrospective study was to determine the prevalence of cardiovascular RF in persons who underwent preventive examinations at our Clinic for Treatment, Prevention and Rehabilitation of CVD.

Methods

The study included 100 respondents aged between 30 and 60y. When collecting and presenting data, the privacy and identity of the respondents are protected. For the purposes of the research, the data of medical documentation were used. The parameters used for the study were age, sex, height, weight, body mass index, abdominal thickness, arterial pressure values, blood sugar, ergometric and spirometry findings. For each respondent, daily life habits such as alcohol and smoking consumption, and levels of physical activity were recorded. Microsoft Excel and Statistics are used for data processing.

Results

According to the analysis of the obtained data, an equal number of men and women participated in the research (average age 47y). Anthropometric testing yielded a mean BMI for men and women which tells us that 44% of respondents are overweight and 21% are obese. Prior to the examination, 20% of respondents were diagnosed with arterial hypertension (AH), arrhythmia, hyperlipoproteinemia and diabetes. Only 2% of the subjects had elevated blood glucose values. Spirometric findings in all subjects were correct, while ergometric testing showed a decrease in values in as many as 75% of subjects. The control of daily living habits determined the enjoyment of tobacco products in 32% and alcohol in 10% of respondents. A worrying fact is that only 5% of respondents engage in some physical activity. In addition, new diagnoses are hyperlipoproteinemia IIa (40%), hyperlipoproteinemia IIb (16%), AH (13%), hyperlipidemia (6%), arrhythmia (4%), diabetes (2%), triglyceridemia (2%), ischemic heart disease (1%), carotid artery stenosis (1%).

Conclusions

The study found an increased incidence of cardiovascular RF in people who are not older. New diagnoses suggest a change in life habits towards eliminating the present cardiovascular RF in order to prevent possible cardiovascular incidents. It is through this organized, systematic and regular prevention that cardiovascular diseases are reduced to a significant level.

Valuation of Quality of Life in Pediatric Disability in a Developing Country

This article assessed how Indian providers and mothers value quality of life in pediatric disabilities, hypothesizing lower values with increasing disability, lower values among providers than mothers, and lower values among mothers with versus mothers without a disabled child. We asked 175 participants: "If born tomorrow, how many years of a disabled life ( y) would you trade to avoid life-long disability" for 4 hypothetical disabilities, calculating "utility" scores as: (life span - y) / life span, where death = 0 and full life without disability = 1. Providers' utilities were 0.67 (mild), 0.18 (moderate), -0.70 (severe), and -0.60 (profound); 0.67, 0, -0.77, and -0.88 for mothers without and 0.38, -0.49, -0.86, and -0.87 for mothers with a disabled child. Mothers without reported lower utilities than providers (severe and profound disability [ P ≤ .03]), and higher utilities than mothers (for mild and moderate disability [ P < .001]). Major disability is valued as a fate worse than death in India.

Socio-Structural Barriers, Protective Factors, and HIV Risk Among Central-Asian Female Migrants in Moscow

Objective

This study aimed to build formative knowledge on socio-structural barriers, protective factors, and HIV sexual risk amongst Central-Asian female migrants in Moscow.

Methods

Data collection included ethnographic interviews in Moscow with a purposive sample of 30 unmarried female migrants, 15 from Kyrgyzstan and 15 from Tajikistan.

Results

Study participants reported difficulties with acquiring documents for legal status, financial insecurity, discrimination, sexual harassment, and lack of support. Based on analysis of the cases, one pathway linked lack of legal documentation and instrumental support with elevated sexual risk. Another pathways linked traditional cultural attitudes with both no and moderate sexual risk.

Conclusion

Future HIV prevention efforts with Central Asian female migrants in Moscow should be multilevel and include: increasing HIV and prevention knowledge and skills, promoting condom use with regular partners, identifying and supporting cultural attitudes that protect against HIV sexual risk behaviors, facilitating legal status, building community support, and increasing economic options.