Cardiovascular risk factors and death in South America

We present cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence and mortality rates reported for South America stratified by country, sex, and urban/rural location in a multinational cohort included in the Population Urban Rural Epidemiological Study (PURE). This study included 24,718 participants from 51 urban and 49 rural communities in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia and the mean follow-up was 10.3years. CVD incidence and mortality rates were calculated for the total cohort and in subpopulations. Hazard ratios and population attributable fractions (PAFs) for CVD and death were examined for 12 modifiable risk factors, grouped as metabolic (hypertension, diabetes, abdominal obesity, and high non-HDL cholesterol), behavioural (smoking, alcohol, diet quality, and physical activity) and other (education, household air pollution, strength, and depression). The leading causes of death were CVD (31.1%), cancer (30.6%), and respiratory diseases (8.6%). Approximately 72% of the PAFs for CVD and 69% of the PAFs for deaths were attributed to 12 modifiable risk factors. For CVD, the main PAFs were due to hypertension (18.7%), abdominal obesity (15.4%), smoking (13.5%), low muscle strength (5.6%), and diabetes (5.3%). For death, the main PAFs were smoking (14.4%), hypertension (12.0%), low educational level (10.5%), abdominal obesity (9.7%), and diabetes (5.5%). Cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and respiratory diseases account for more than two-thirds of deaths in South America. Men have consistently higher CVD rates and mortality than women. A large proportion of CVD and premature deaths could be avoided by controlling metabolic risk factors and smoking, which are the main risk factors in the region for both CVD and all-cause mortality.