Feasibility of a primary health care programme aiming at reducing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risk factors among women in a Swedish community, Strömstad.

In the Swedish community of Strömstad, where the mortality from cardiovascular disease is high in the female population, all women aged 45-64 years were offered a health survey with the main purpose of screening for cardiovascular risk factors. Altogether 927 of 1084 women (86%) participated. Women with one or more risk factors were invited to attend a three-month course organized by the primary health care service to receive information about how they themselves could influence their risk factors by changing dietary and physical exercise patterns. At a follow-up survey three months later, the participants in the courses had significantly improved many of their risk factor values compared with the non-participants. The improvement was still mainly present a year later.