Maria Emília Figueiredo Teixeira1,2, Priscila Valverde de O Vitorino3, Celso Amodeo4, Tânia Martinez5, Andréa Araujo Brandão6, Eduardo Costa Duarte Barbosa7, Audes Diógenes Magalhães Feitosa8, Paulo Cesar B Veiga Jardim9, Ana Luiza Lima Souza1,2, Weimar Kunz Sebba Barroso1,2. 1. Universidade Federal de Goiás - Liga de Hipertensão Arterial, Goiânia, GO - Brasil. 2. Universidade Federal de Goiás - Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Goiânia, GO - Brasil. 3. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás - Escola de Ciências Sociais e da Saúde, Goiânia, Goiás - Brasil. 4. Escola paulista de Medicina da Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp EPM), São Paulo, SP - Brasil. 5. Hospital do Coração (HCor) - Lipids, São Paulo, SP - Brasil. 6. Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) - Cardiologia, Rio de Janeiro, RJ - Brasil. 7. Instituto de Cardiologia - Laboratório de Investigação Clínica (LIC), Porto Alegre, RS - Brasil. 8. Laboratório de Imunopatologia Keizo Asami - Universidade Federal de Pernambuco - Clínica Médica, Recife, PE - Brasil. 9. Universidade Federal de Goiás - Cardiologia, Goiânia, GO - Brasil.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: A major cause of death worldwide, cardiovascular diseases and their prevalence in cardiologists are little known. OBJECTIVES: To describe life habits and cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) and to investigate the prevalence of diagnosis, awareness, and control of these CVRF among cardiologists members affiliated to and specialists from the Brazilian Society of Cardiology. METHODS: National multicenter cross-sectional study to assess Brazilian cardiologists using a questionnaire on life habits, preexisting diseases, current medications, anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, and levels of glucose and lipids. RESULTS: A total of 555 cardiologists were evaluated, of which 67.9% were male, with a mean age of 47.2±11.7 years. Most were non-smoker (88.7%) and physically active (77.1%), consumed alcohol (78.2%), had normal weight circumference (51.7%), and were overweight (56.1%). The prevalence of systemic arterial hypertension (SAH), diabetes mellitus (DM), and dyslipidemia (DLP) were 32.4%, 5.9%, and 49.7%, respectively, of which only 57.2%, 45.5%, and 49.6%, respectively, were aware of the diseases. CONCLUSIONS: The Brazilian cardiologists participating in the study had a high prevalence of SAH, DM and DLP, but only a half of participants were aware of these conditions and, among these, the rates of controlled disease were low for SAH and DLP, although cardiologists are professionals with great knowledge about these CVRF. These findings represent a warning sign for the approach of CVRF in Brazilian cardiologists and encourage the conduction of future studies.
BACKGROUND: A major cause of death worldwide, cardiovascular diseases and their prevalence in cardiologists are little known. OBJECTIVES: To describe life habits and cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) and to investigate the prevalence of diagnosis, awareness, and control of these CVRF among cardiologists members affiliated to and specialists from the Brazilian Society of Cardiology. METHODS: National multicenter cross-sectional study to assess Brazilian cardiologists using a questionnaire on life habits, preexisting diseases, current medications, anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, and levels of glucose and lipids. RESULTS: A total of 555 cardiologists were evaluated, of which 67.9% were male, with a mean age of 47.2±11.7 years. Most were non-smoker (88.7%) and physically active (77.1%), consumed alcohol (78.2%), had normal weight circumference (51.7%), and were overweight (56.1%). The prevalence of systemic arterial hypertension (SAH), diabetes mellitus (DM), and dyslipidemia (DLP) were 32.4%, 5.9%, and 49.7%, respectively, of which only 57.2%, 45.5%, and 49.6%, respectively, were aware of the diseases. CONCLUSIONS: The Brazilian cardiologists participating in the study had a high prevalence of SAH, DM and DLP, but only a half of participants were aware of these conditions and, among these, the rates of controlled disease were low for SAH and DLP, although cardiologists are professionals with great knowledge about these CVRF. These findings represent a warning sign for the approach of CVRF in Brazilian cardiologists and encourage the conduction of future studies.