Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality in the western countries at the same time they are beginning to appear with increasing frequency in developing countries. The Tunisian epidemiological data on cardiovascular disease in the hospital environment are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of cardiovascular risk factors and their association in patients hospitalised for coronary disease in coronary care units at Rabta, Charles Nicolle, Habib Thameur, Tahar Maamouri, Menzel Bourguiba and Military hospitals, over the period 1994-1998. The clinical features of 7164 patients (72.2% men with a mean age of 59 years, 3408 myocardial infarction, 3756 unstable angina) on hospital admission were analysed. The prevalence of hypertension (blood pressure ≥ 140/90 mmHg) was 41.4%. There is a statistically significant difference in the prevalence of hypertension (p<0.001) between men (33.4%), and women (62.1%). The prevalence of diabetes (glycemia ≥ 1.26 g/l) was 44.8%. The prevalence was higher in women (53.3%) than in men (41.1%, p<0.001). The prevalence of obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m 2 ) (18.8%) was higher in women (29% vs. 14.9% in men, p<0.001). The incidence of dyslipidemia (CT > 2.5 g/l and/or TG > 1.5 g/l) was 44.9%. The percentage was higher in women (48.2%) than in men (43.3%, P< 0.001). The prevalence of smoking was 64.3%, with a statistically significant difference between men (84.4%) and women (12.2%). Twenty four percent of the patients had one cardiovascular risk factor, 32% had two, 25% had three factors and 13% had four or more factors. With this risk factor profile Tunisia has to implement a national strategy of primary prevention and heart health promotion in addition to the efforts recently made in secondary prevention of some chronic disease such as hypertension, diabetes and smoking.