THE CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH STATUS OF CARDIOLOGISTS IN CHINA: THE CHINA CARDIOLOGIST HEART STUDY

Abstract

Objective: The morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular disease in China are still increasing. China cardiologists, as the gatekeeper of Chinese cardiovascular health, themselves should be healthy in cardiovasculature firstly, before they can take care of their patients. A national survey eligible to every China cardiologist was conducted to evaluate their health status and boost their perception on their own cardiovascular health. Design and method: An online questionnaire based on Wechat, a social application widely used in China, was tried to spread out to every cardiologist practicing in China. The information including age, gender, height, weight, life and work habits, cardiovascular risk factors, and histories of diseases and medication, were filled out by each surveyed cardiologist. Crude prevalences of cardiovascular risk factors, organ damage, and cardiovascular diseases were calculated and compared with data from Chinese general population. Results: A total of 17010 cardiologists (mean age 39 ± 9 years; 54.3% males) across China participated the survey between August 2020 and November 2021. Hyperlipidemia was the most common cardiovascular risk factor, followed by hypertension 2126 (12.5%), smoking 1232 (7.2%), overweight 1031 (6.1%), diabetes 404 (2.4%) and obesity 379 (2.2%). Compared with data from Chinese general population, cardiologists in China showed higher rates of awareness, treatment, and control rates of hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia. Male, versus female, cardiologists showed significantly higher prevalences of hypertension (18.6% vs 5.2%), diabetes (3.4% vs 1.2%), and hyperlipidemia (31.8% vs 18.1%). Intervention, versus non-intervention, cardiologists showed significantly higher prevalences of hypertension (15.6% vs 9.7%) and hyperlipidemia (30.8% vs 21.1%). Carotid plaque (3.5%) and microalbuminuria (1.3%) were the most prevalent subclinical organ damage. There were 539 (3.2%) cardiologists presented with arrhythmia, 378 (2.2%) with OSAS, and 82 (0.5%) with coronary artery disease. Conclusions: Compared to general population, China Cardiologists showed lower prevalences of hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidemia and better management of cardiovascular risk. More attention and efforts are still needed to further improve the cardiovascular health of cardiologists in China, especially for males and intervention cardiologists.