Prevalence of coronary artery calcification in a multiethnic population in Angola

This article aims to study the prevalence of coronary artery calcification and associated factors in a multiethnic population in Angola.

A descriptive, cross-sectional observational study was carried out in a private clinic in Angola. For this purpose, information was collected from sociodemographic and biological data. The selected variables were; history of arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking (current and past), alcohol consumption, family history of coronary disease, and coronary calcium score. Independent Mann-Whitney test, Student's t-test and chi-square test were used as appropriate.

The sample consisted of 211 individuals: 156(73.9%) of black race, 37(17.4%) of mixed race and 18(8.4%) of Caucasian race. 126(59.7%) were male. The average age was 56.7 ± 9.3 years. Of the total sample, 158 (74.9%) had a history of hypertension, 50 (23.7%) of diabetes mellitus, and 138 (65.4%) of dyslipidemia. Of the total number of individuals, 21(10.0%) were smokers and 38(18.0%) were ex-smokers, 137 (64.9%) were social drinkers and 44(20.9%) were obese. A significant association was found between calcification of the coronary arteries and aging (p <.001), Caucasian race (p =.037), and a history of diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and smoking (p <.001, p <.001, p =.012, respectively). Black race and female gender are associated with a lower risk of coronary artery calcification (p =.034 and p =.011, respectively).

The present results support the notion that there are racial and ethnic differences in the prevalence of coronary calcification.