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Cardiovascular risk and statin prescription in primary care: an observational study, São Leopoldo, 2018-2021

Vania Celina Dezoti Micheletti1, Roger Dos Santos Rosa2, Thiago Dipp1

  • 1Universidade do Vale do Rio do Sinos, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Saúde Coletiva, São Leopoldo, RS, Brazil.

Epidemiologia E Servicos De Saude : Revista Do Sistema Unico De Saude Do Brasil
|October 22, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Most primary health care users in São Leopoldo have low to moderate cardiovascular risk. Statin prescription aligns with guidelines but is underutilized, prescribed to less than a third of patients.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Public Health
  • Primary Health Care Research

Background:

  • Cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of mortality globally.
  • Accurate cardiovascular risk stratification is crucial for effective prevention strategies.
  • The Global HEARTS Initiative provides a framework for cardiovascular risk assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine cardiovascular risk strata using the Global HEARTS Initiative calculator.
  • To evaluate statin prescription patterns in primary health care users.
  • To analyze the association between cardiovascular risk and statin use.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional observational study of 2,199 primary health care users aged 18+.
  • Cardiovascular risk calculated using the Global HEARTS Initiative tool.
  • Statistical analysis included frequency distributions, chi-square, and Fisher's exact tests.

Main Results:

  • 41.4% low risk, 38.0% moderate risk, 19.6% high risk, 1.0% very high risk.
  • Statin prescription recorded in 29.5% of users.
  • Significant association between higher cardiovascular risk and statin prescription (p<0.001), with 41.2% of high-risk users receiving statins.

Conclusions:

  • Primary health care users in São Leopoldo generally fall into low to moderate cardiovascular risk categories.
  • Statin prescribing practices appear guided by clinical risk, but overall utilization is below recommended levels.
  • Opportunities exist to increase guideline-adherent statin therapy initiation in at-risk populations.
Abstract

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