Abstract P334: Demographic, Risk Factors and Knowledge Profile of the Participants From a Vascular Disease Prevention Campaign - Red September

Abstract

Introduction: Studies have suggested beneficial effect of the continuous educational work in the prevention of chronic degenerative diseases. Objective: To describe the demographic, risk factors (RF) profile and knowledge of the participants of a Vascular Disease (VD) Prevention Campaign - Red September. Method: A cross-sectional descriptive analysis of data collected through a form with questions about RF associated with VD and the subject’s knowledgement about them. Results: In a total of 572 subjects (55% female), with a mean age of 43.7±16.4 years, the prevalence of RF for women and men respectively, was 29.1% x 28.3% for arterial hypertension (AH); 11.2% x 8.3% for diabetes mellitus; 15.5% x 13.3% for dyslipidemia; 55% x 65.1% for self-reports of anxiety and/or depression (A/D); 26.8% x 33.1% for family history of early VD and 7.6% x 6.7% of previous cardiovascular (CV) event. Dividing women by age group, the prevalence of AH, spontaneous report of A/D and insufficient physical activity found was, respectively, 5%, 36% and 63% for the group between 18-50 y/o; 50%, 52% and 65.5% for 51-70 y/o group, and 82.4%, 76.5% and 88.2% for women above 71 y/o. The participants' knowledge results reveal that 72% had a satisfactory answer on "what is an artery?", only 25% knew the doctor specialized in the care of VD, and 70.5% of the women and 84.4% of the men are unaware that fatigue may be a symptom. When questioned about which RFs are most related to VD, the first, second and third responses were, respectively: fatty diet (36.9%), inadequate diet (18.1 %) and sedentarism (19.3%). Despite of the knowledge of the causality of VD and CV presence, these RFs are significantly present in this population. Conclusion: The need for better strategies to reduce the discrepancy found in this sample is notorious, aimed at reducing the high percentage of modifiable RF that were evidenced in the analyzed population and have been already seen and published in previous studies.