Characteristics of cardiovascular risk factors and their correlation with the sex and age of patients in the Latvian population

Abstract

Various cardiovascular risk factors (RFs) were determined in 773 out-patients (mean age 55.8 ± 14.5 years). Male individuals had a larger waist circumference (WC) than did female patients (99.1 ± 13.6 cm vs 93.3 ± 15.2 cm), higher diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (83.6 ± 9.6 mmHg vs 81.8 ± 9.6 mmHg), and higher levels of blood glucose (5.73 ± 1.4 mmol/L vs 5.49 ± 1.3 mmol/L) and triglycerides (TG) (1.89 ± 1.3 mmol/L vs 1.60 ± 1.0 mmol/L), but lower levels of total cholesterol (TC) (5.54 ± 1.2 mmol/L vs 5.79 ± 1.2 mmol/L) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (1.21 ± 0.4 mmol/L vs 1.44 ± 0.4 mmol/L). Compared with the younger age group (i.e., males, < 7 years; females, < 65 years), patients in the older age group had a larger WC (98.4 ± 14.2 cm vs 92.8 ± 15.1 cm), higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) (144.2 ± 19.2 mmHg vs 131.6 ± 18.5 mmHg), higher DBP (84.5 ± 8.8 mmHg vs 80.9 ± 9.8 mmHg), higher blood glucose level (5.74 ± 1.3 mmol/L vs 5.46 ± 1.3 mmol/L), and higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level (LDL-C) (3.68 ± 1.0 mmol/L vs 3.52 ± 1.0 mmol/L), but lower HDL-C level (1.3 ± 0.4 mmol/L vs 1.41 ± 0.4 mmol/L). Age was significantly correlated with all RFs, with the exception of the level of C-reactive protein. In conclusion, analysis of cardiovascular RFs in different age subgroups of both sexes clearly showed individual peculiarities of risk profile. This conclusion challenges the usual way of risk calculation using "universal" markers like adiposity or dyslipidemia in all population. The new approach requires individual attention depending on sex and age also in management of risk.