Cholesterol and other cardiovascular risk factors in a working population in Ile-de-France (France): first results of the PCV-METRA study.

In 1989, the French PCV-METRA Group (PCV-METRA = Prevention Cardio-Vasculaire en Médecine du Travail) started a large prospective survey of cardiovascular (CDV) morbidity and mortality and of CVD risk factors, especially cholesterol, in a working population in Ile-de-France, a region including Paris. This report presents the first results of this study, based on a sample of 5758 men and 2603 women, aged 18-65 years. The variables examined included the levels of total cholesterol 1/2 (TC), High-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and the other major CVD risk factors (smoking, sedentary way of life, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, use of oral contraceptives and familial history of CVD risks). TC and LDL-C significantly increased with age. The changes with age were significantly different in men and women. The levels were similar in both sexes at less than 30 yrs, increased sharply for men after age 30 and were significantly higher in men than in women from 30 to 55 yrs. Beyond 55 yrs, no difference was observed between the two sexes. In contrast, HDL-C was higher in women at all age ranges. In the total sample, 35% of men and 21% of women were hypercholesterolemic (TC > or = 2.4 g/L). Our observations fully confirm and refine previous findings in the US and in other European countries. In addition, a substantial set of data on CVD risk factors for the working population in France, especially for female subjects for whom data are scanty, is now available.