This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Campos, H. Articles by Schaefer, E. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Campos, H. Articles by Schaefer, E. J.

Circulation, Vol 85, 648-658, Copyright © 1992 by American Heart Association

ARTICLES

Prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in rural and urban Costa Rica

H Campos, L Mata, X Siles, M Vives, JM Ordovas and EJ Schaefer
Lipid Metabolism Laboratory, U.S.D.A. Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111.

BACKGROUND. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is becoming more prevalent in developing countries, particularly in the urban areas, in contrast to the CAD mortality trends observed in some industrialized nations. METHODS AND RESULTS. We determined the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors (hypertension, diabetes, smoking, obesity, total cholesterol greater than or equal to 240 mg/dl and greater than or equal to 200 less than or equal to 239 mg/dl, low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol greater than or equal to 160 mg/dl and greater than 130 less than or equal to 159 mg/dl, and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol less than 35 mg/dl) in 222 men and 243 women from rural and urban areas of Puriscal, Costa Rica, using the American Cholesterol Education Program guidelines. Urban Puriscal men had a significantly (p less than 0.05) higher prevalence of borderline high-risk total cholesterol (26% versus 14%), borderline high-risk LDL cholesterol (21% versus 11%), smoking (32% versus 13%), and higher prevalence of low HDL cholesterol (34% versus 24%), hypertension (16% versus 13%), diabetes (4.5% versus 2.7%), obesity (21% versus 14%), and saturated fat intake greater than 15% of calories (14% versus 7%) than rural men from Puriscal. No significant differences between rural and urban women were found for any of the cardiovascular risk factors. Urban Puriscal residents were also more sedentary than rural Puriscal residents. CONCLUSIONS. These data indicate that modifiable risk factors are more prevalent in urban than in rural Puriscal, Costa Rica, particularly in men.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Genest Dyslipidemia guidelines Can. Med. Assoc. J., July 20, 2004; 171(2): 118 - 119. [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Sen-Banerjee, X. Siles, and H. Campos Tobacco Smoking Modifies Association Between Gln-Arg192 Polymorphism of Human Paraoxonase Gene and Risk of Myocardial Infarction Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol., September 1, 2000; 20(9): 2120 - 2126. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Campos and X. Siles Siesta and the risk of coronary heart disease: results from a population-based, case-control study in Costa Rica Int. J. Epidemiol., June 1, 2000; 29(3): 429 - 437. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Martorell, L. K. Khan, M. L. H. and, and L. M. Grummer-Strawn Obesity in Latin American Women and Children J. Nutr., September 1, 1998; 128(9): 1464 - 1473. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				H. Campos, J. Lopez-Miranda, C. Rodriguez, M. Albajar, E. J. Schaefer, and J. M. Ordovas Urbanization Elicits a More Atherogenic Lipoprotein Profile in Carriers of the Apolipoprotein A-IV-2 Allele Than in A-IV-1 Homozygotes Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol., June 1, 1997; 17(6): 1074 - 1081. [Abstract] [Full Text]