Cardiovascular disease risk factors among older people: Data from the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2015

Shariff Ghazali Sazlina,Noor Ani Ahmad,Suthahar Ariaratnam,Noorlaili Mohd Tohit,Rajini Sooryanarayana,Sheleaswani Inche Zainal Abidin,Ambigga Devi Krishnapillai,Bee Kiau Ho,Mohd Azahadi Omar,Frank T Spradley

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0240826

Abstract

Study on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and their prevalence among the older people in Malaysia is limited. We aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with CVD risk factors using the non-laboratory Framingham Generalized 10-Year CVD risk score among older people in Malaysia. This was a population-based cross-sectional study using data of 3,375 participants aged ≥60 years from the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2015. Sociodemographic, health factors and clinical assessments (anthropometry and blood pressure) were included. Complex survey analysis was used to obtain prevalence with 95% confidence intervals (CI). We applied ordinal regression to determine the factors associated with CVD risk. The prevalence for the high 10-year CVD risk was 72.1%. Body mass index was higher among those aged 60–69 years in men (25.4kg/m2, 95%CI 25.1–25.8) and women (26.7kg/m2, 95%CI 26.3–27.1) than the other age groups. The factors associated with moderate and high 10-year CVD risk were Malay ethnicity (Odds Ratio(OR) 0.76, 95%CI 0.63–0.92, p = 0.004), unmarried status (OR 1.55, 95%CI 1.22–1.97, p<0.001) and physically inactive (OR 0.72, 95%CI 0.55–0.95, p = 0.020). There is a need for future study to evaluate preventive strategies to improve the health of older people in order to promote healthy ageing.

Highlights

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality globally and it is known that CVD increases with age [1]
The National Health and Morbidity Surveys (NHMS) has shown that the prevalence of CVD risk factors such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, overweight/obesity and smoking has been on an increasing trend and it increases with age [5]
The calculated Framingham Generalized 10-Year CVD Risk Score (FRS) showed that 72.1% had high 10-year CVD risk

Summary

Introduction

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality globally and it is known that CVD increases with age [1]. It is associated with tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour, which are reflected by the increased prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, overweight and obesity The prevalence of these non-communicable diseases increase with age, which leads to significant mortality among older people as well as disability, functional decline and healthcare costs [2]. The National Health and Morbidity Surveys (NHMS) has shown that the prevalence of CVD risk factors such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, overweight/obesity and smoking has been on an increasing trend and it increases with age [5] This has led to increased demand for healthcare, especially with a high proportion of older age groups [6]

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