Cardiovascular risk factor levels in a lower middle-class community in Ankara, Turkey

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Cardiovascular Disease Prevention

Background:

• Coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors pose a significant public health challenge globally.
• Understanding the prevalence of these factors in diverse populations is crucial for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of key coronary heart disease risk factors in a lower middle-class urban community in Turkey.
• To identify specific risk factors associated with obesity within this population.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study was conducted in Gülveren, Ankara, involving a community sample of 1672 adults aged 25-64.
• Age- and sex-stratified random sampling was employed, with direct age-standardization for international comparisons.
• Logistic regression analysis was used to identify predictors of obesity.

Main Results:

• High age-standardized prevalence rates were observed: hypertension (18.6% women, 12.3% men), obesity (51.0% women, 15.1% men), current smoking (20.1% women, 64.8% men), hypercholesterolemia (20.1% women, 13.8% men), and low HDL (48.4% women, 40.6% men).
• Obesity was significantly associated with older age, female sex, and being a non-smoker or ex-smoker.

Conclusions:

• The study highlights a high prevalence of smoking, obesity, and low HDL cholesterol in this Turkish urban population, exceeding rates in some industrialized nations.
• Women exhibited less favorable CHD risk profiles than men, with the exception of smoking.
• Community-wide preventive strategies addressing multiple risk factors simultaneously are recommended to prevent compensatory risk behaviors, such as weight gain after smoking cessation.