Prevalence of ideal cardiovascular health in Peru: The cronicas cohort study

Abstract

Background: American Heart Association 2020 Impact Goal focuses on promotion of health and control of cardiovascular risk. We aimed to determine the prevalence of Ideal Cardiovascular Health in Peru. Methods: Ideal Cardiovascular Health is the presence of 3 ideal health factors (untreated total cholesterol <200 mg/dL, untreated blood pressure <120/ <80 mm Hg, and untreated fasting plasma glucose <100 mg/dL) and 4 ideal health behaviors (never smoker, body mass index <25 kg/m2, high physical activity, and fruit and vegetable consumption >3 times/day). Data from the CRONICAS longitudinal study, an age-and-sex stratified random sample of participants aged 35 years or older in four Peruvian settings. Results: 3058 of 3618 (84.5%) of the CRONICAS cohort participants had complete information for analysis. Figure 1 shows the agestandardized prevalence estimates of ideal, intermediate and poor health metrics. No one had all 7 metrics; only 48 (15.7%) had 6 ideal health metrics and 650 (21.3%) had ≤ 1 ideal health metric. Compared to urban Lima, living in rural Puno was associated with more Ideal Cardiovascular Health (OR 2.09, 95% CI 1.49-2.91) and rural Tumbes was less ideal (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.39-0.76) after adjusting for sex, age, education and wealth index. Conclusion: There is an alarmingly low prevalence of Ideal Cardiovascular Health in Peru and the metrics with the greatest potential for improvement are health behaviors, including diet quality, physical activity and body weight.