Cardiovascular risk factors in normotensive and hypertensive Egyptians.

Objectives: To define the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and their relation to the level of blood pressure, in Egyptians.

Methods: Data were collected during the Egyptian National Hypertension project, a national hypertension survey in Egypt. During phase I of the survey, hypertensive (HT) patients were identified. In phase II, clinical and laboratory evaluations were made on HT and gender-matched normotensives (NT). A total of 2313 individuals were examined, 311 NT males, 443 NT females, 670 HT males and 889 HT females.

Results: The prevalence of obesity was 33 and 47% in hypertensive men and women, respectively. After adjusting for age, HT men had significantly higher heart rate, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), fasting blood sugar (FBS), post-prandial blood sugar (PBS), body mass index and waist/hip (W/H) ratio than their NT counterparts. In addition, HT women had higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). The prevalence of elevated LDL-C and FBS increased with age. The prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia, elevated FBS and obesity rose with increasing level of blood pressure (BP). From the 25-34 to the 55-64 age group, the percentage of hypertensives with > or = 2 risk factors rose from 42.9 to 60.6% in men, and from 9.4 to 46.2% in women. All risk factors were more prevalent in urban populations.

Conclusion: This is one of the few reports on the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in a developing country. Risk factors cluster with rising level of BP and with ageing. Obesity is very prevalent, particularly in hypertensive Egyptian women. Health efforts directed at the prevention and treatment of obesity should be a high priority.