Cardiovascular Disease Risk Profiling Among First Degree Relatives of Coronary Artery Disease Patients Admitted in Cardiology Ward of JIPMER, Puducherry

Abstract

Background: Non-communicable diseases constitute about 68% of global death annually. Among NCD deaths, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) ranks first with a share of 46.2% amounting to 17.5 million deaths. First degree relatives of patients with coronary heart disease have a higher risk of getting cardiovascular events due to interplay between genetic as well as environmental factors. The aim of this research WAS to assess the prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) risk factors and to estimate the cardiovascular risk among first degree relatives of CAD patients. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was performed in first degree relatives of coronary artery disease patients in cardiology ward of JIPMER a tertiary care hospital in Puducherry. Overall 218 first degree relatives aged ≥18 were involved in study. The desired information was obtained using a pre-tested questionnaire and participants were also subjected to anthropometric measurements and laboratory investigations. WHO/ISH risk prediction charts for the South-East Asian region was used to assess the cardiovascular risk among the study participants according to age, gender, blood pressure, smoking status, and presence or absence of diabetes mellitus. Results: The study covered 218 adults aged above 18 years. The mean age of the subjects was 41 (± 9) years and 56% subjects were men. Around 10% of the participants had more than 10% risk for the occurrence of cardiovascular events by using WHO/ISH risk prediction charts. In addition, CVD risk factors like physical inactivity, smoking, alcohol abuse, obesity, hypertension, diabetes abnormal lipid profile were found in 22.5%, 19.2%, 16.1%, 12.4%, 33%, 29% and 13.8% study participants, respectively. Conclusion: This cross-sectional study indicates that there is a high burden of CVD risk in the first degree relatives of coronary artery disease patients as assessed by WHO/ISH risk prediction charts. Opportunistic screening programs and appropriate risk stratification based management needs to be initiated for the first degree relatives of CVD patients. Key words: Cardiovascular Disease, First degree relative, Prevalence, Cardiovascular risk prediction, CAD patients.