Cardiovascular risk factor(s) prevalence in Greek hypertensives. Effect of gender and age

The aim of this study was to determine cardiovascular (CV) risk factors (RFs) and target organ damage clustering in 21280 Greek hypertensives stratified by gender and age. Glycemic and lipid profile were determined, left ventricular mass index, estimated gromerular filtration rate (eGFR), 10-years CV risk according to Framingham risk score (FRS) and HeartScore (HS) were calculated. Only 10.2% of patients had no concomitant RFs, 53.1% had one (48.8% dyslipidemia, 3.4% smoking, 0.9% diabetes), 32.9% had two (26% dyslipidemia and smoking, 6.6% dyslipidemia and diabetes, 0.3% smoking and diabetes) and 3.7% had all four traditional RFs. Obesity was present in 30%, metabolic syndrome in 38%, low eGFR in 24% and left ventricular hypertrophy in 49%. Mean FRS risk was 35% for males, 24.1% for females whereas in high risk (>20%) were 68.7 and 50.7%, respectively (P<0.0001). Mean HS risk was 8.4% for males, 6.2% for females whereas in high risk (>5%) were 48.6 and 36.2%, respectively (P<0.0001). Age was correlated to pulse pressure, eGFR, left ventricular mass index and CV risk (P<0.0001). Ageing increased the risk difference between genders for total (P=0.001) but not for fatal events (P=nonsignificant). In conclusion, as RFs cluster in hypertensives, CV risk calculation should guide treatment decisions.