[Lifestyles and alterations of finger-stick glucose and cholesterol and blood pressure among fifty-year-old Italian and foreign residents in the Alto Vicentino Health District (Veneto Region, Northern Italy)].

Objectives: to describe and compare cardiovascular risk prevalence in a large sample of Italian and foreign fifty-year-old residents in Veneto Region (Northern Italy) who do not have a co-pay fee exemption for cardiovascular diseases. Data collection comes from standardized and objective measurements carried out by health personnel of the Department of Prevention of the Local Health Agency 7 of Veneto Region.

Design: cross-sectional study.

Setting And Participants: Italian and foreign fifty-years-old residents who do not have a co-pay fee exemption for cardiovascular diseases were extracted from the registry list, excluding people already affected by diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia or cardiovascular diseases, and received a written invitation to participate.

Main Outcomes Measures: adherents were studied through standardized questionnaires about their lifestyles (tobacco, alcohol, weight excess, central obesity, physical inactivity), anthropometric measurements (height, weight, body mass index, waist circumference), the direct measurement of blood pressure and a finger-stick for glucose and cholesterol. Educational level was also recorded in a large subgroup of adherents. Risk factor prevalence has been described and analyzed by geographical area of origin, separately for men and women and adjusted for educational level.

Results: among the invited people, 3,420 out of 5,088 accepted the invitation (67.2%); the adherence was lower among foreign women. Both foreign women and men showed lower prevalence of healthy lifestyles compared to Italian participants (women: 20.3% vs. 34.3%; men: 13.2 vs. 25.6%). These differences remained large and statistically significant after adjusting for educational level. The prevalence of hypertension and of hypercholesterolemia/hyperglycaemia (finger stick) was higher among foreign women than among Italian (39.1% vs. 28.4%); remarkably, the prevalence of hyperglycaemia was 8.7% vs.1.9%.

Conclusions: the majority of foreign residents can be reached through a personal invitation to participate in a cardiovascular prevention intervention. Foreign participants show a higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors compared to Italian residents. It is advisable to implement a strategy involving both the health personnel of the Department of Prevention and the General practitioners aiming at improving individual and community healthy choices and at an early recognition of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia onset among foreign residents.