Epidemiology of coronary heart disease risk factors in a free-living population.

A project for the detection and treatment of multiple risk factors (MRF) for coronary heart disease (CHD) has been initiated in Argentina. After complete medical and routine laboratory studies, 462 apparently normal subjects were found. The prevalence of RF was: hyperlipoproteinemia (HLP) 43.9%, hypertension (?160-95) 17.3%, smoking habits 35% (heavy smokers 7.9%), psychosocial stress 49.5%, overweight (weight/height > 1.10) 40.3%, sedentary habits 44.8%, family history of CHD 10.9%, diabetes 6.9%, and minor electrocardiographic abnormalities 6.6%. The distribution of the different types of HLP showed that type IV, with a frequency of 21.9%, was the most common. Types IIa and IIb had a prevalence of 11.5 and 10.6%, respectively. An extra pre-β band was detected in 25% of the population. Striking sex differences were found. Both type IV HLP prevalence and serum uric acid levels were significantly higher (P < 0.001) in males than in females. On the contrary, sedentary habits and psychosocial stress were significantly more prevalent in women than in men (P < 0.001). RF associations have been demonstrated between type IV HLP, overweight, hypertension, tobacco smoking, and diabetes. RF prevalence tended to increase with advancing age with the exception of smoking habits. In this apparently normal population, 36.9% of the men and 19.4% of the women had two or more major risk factors requiring treatment because of their high CHD risk.