Unveiling Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Diagnosed and Undiagnosed among Rural Population: a Prospective Observational Study

Abstract

Background: Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. It is caused by a combination of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors.Several risk factors contribute to the higher prevalence of CVD in rural areas. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine prevalence of individual risk factors among undiagnosed and diagnosed patients with cardiovascular diseases. Materials and methods: A prospective observational study was carried out among the rural areas of pathanamthitta district. The sample size of the study was 500 individuals. The study period ranged from 6 months. The data was collected using a semi structured questionnaire and various instruments to evaluate risk factors including diabetes mellitus, blood pressure and BMI were used. Results: Of the total population of 500 individuals,22.4% of the total subjects were diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, and about 77.6% of the subjects were not diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. The prevalence of individual risk factors for the diagnosed population were higher than that of the undiagnosed population, although 27.5% of the undiagnosed population were found to have high risk for developing cardiovascular disease. Conclusion:The prevalence of social habits such as smoking, alcoholism and tobacco consumption is a contributing factor to cardiovascular disease. Lifestyle diseases such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia are prevalent in causing cardiovascular disease. Among the individuals not diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, one third of the population were having high risk of developing CVD