[Prevalence of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases in aged persons].

The prevalence study comprised randomly selected sample of 131 females and 109 males aged 70 years and over in the urban area of Kragujevac community. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, as well as the prevalence of factors important for the onset of cardiovascular diseases. Ischaemic heart disease was found in 36.6% of females, and in 25.7% of males. Six patients (two males--1.8% and five females--3.1% were with cerebrovascular disorders. The majority of the participants in the study (70.6% of males and 80.9% of females) were hypertensive. The mean value of systolic blood pressure was 166.2 mmHg, and the mean value of diastolic blood pressure was 93.3 mmHg. The mean values systolic and diastolic blood pressure values, serum level of total cholesterol, high density and low density cholesterol and glucose were relatively high and higher in women than in men. Serum triglycerides were the same for both sexes--1.5 mmol/l. The majority of patients included in the study had normal body mass index and frequently were the low-fat diet and physically active. Only 13.2% were active smokers. It could be concluded that some of main risk factors for cardiovascular diseases were not frequent in this population of the elderly.