Major cardiovascular risk factors in Latin America: a comparison with the United States. The Latin American consortium of studies in obesity (LASO)

Abstract

Limited knowledge on the prevalence and distribution of risk factors impairs the planning and implementation of cardiovascular prevention programs in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region. For the last two decades cardiovascular diseases have been the main cause of death in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). [1] Cardiovascular mortality rates continue to increase in most LAC countries, and in those countries where rates have declined the blunting of the trend has been considerably lower than in the United Sates (US). [2]. Data on the distribution of cardiovascular risk factors in LAC region are limited, and the few studies available show significant variation in the levels of prevalence. For instance, the CARMELA study, [3] conducted in seven major urban cities from LAC, reported markedly different hypertension levels. For instance, hypertension prevalence in Santiago (Chile), Buenos Aires (Argentina), and Barquisimeto (Venezuela), ranged from 24% to 29%, whereas in Quito (Ecuador), Bogotá (Colombia), Mexico City (Mexico), and Lima (Peru) varied from 9% to 13%. Yet, diabetes prevalence in these cities was similar to world’s estimates, around 7%. [3] Differences in rural-urban residence, socioeconomic development, and internal migration patterns could partly explain the contrasting profiles of cardiovascular risk factors, but knowledge on this regard is also very limited. This scarcity of data on the distribution of risk factors and, in turn, on their impact on incidence and mortality hampers efforts to curtail the growing epidemic of cardiovascular disease in LAC. In fact, national and regional health policies have been customarily based on estimates of the burden of risk factors and disease that rely heavily on demographic profiles. [4]. Here we report the distribution of cardiovascular risk factors using data from population-based studies from eight LAC countries. We also compare the distribution of cardiovascular risk factors in LAC and the US, as a way to illustrate the current stage of LAC in the process of the epidemiological transition. Insight into the specific differences in the distribution of risk factors in the LAC and US populations is important to foresee future trends in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the region.