Primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases among women in a South Asian population: a descriptive study of modifiable risk factors

Objective The aim of this study was the assessment of modifiable risk factors of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) among women versus men at a newly developed preventive cardiology clinic of a large tertiary care cardiac centre in Pakistan. Design Observational study. Setting Tertiary care cardiac hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Participants Data for this study were obtained retrospectively from a prospectively collected ongoing registry. We have included all female and male individuals who have presented or were referred to our clinic for primary prevention. All the participants had no history of ischaemic heart disease. Outcome measure In this study, we evaluated the CVD risk factors, estimated risk of CVD, and glycaemic and cholesterol control at baseline and at subsequent follow-ups for high-risk patients. Results A total of 535 patients, 314 females, were included with a mean age of 48.3±12.5 years. At baseline, 57.9% (128) of men versus 73.2% (230) of women (p<0.001) were known cases of hypertension (HTN); 18.1% (40) vs 26.8% (84) (p=0.019) were diabetic; 40.5% (89) vs 9.2% (29) (p<0.001) were tobacco users; 26.0% (56) vs 3.2% (10) (p<0.001) were smokers; and 26.9% (57) vs 50.5% (153) had BMI ≥30 kg/m 2, respectively. Baseline atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk score was available for 348 (65%), 61.5% (136) of men versus 67.5% (212) of women. The median ASCVD risk score was 6.8% (2.8%-16.1%) vs 2.25% (1%-5.1%) (p<0.001 for men and women, respectively). The ASCVD risk score was ≥20% (high risk) for 22.1% (30) vs 1.9% (4), while the ASCVD risk score was <5% (low risk) for 40.4% (55) vs 74.1% (157) of men and women, respectively. A repeat ASCVD assessment at a median follow-up of 49.5 (7.0-231) days was available for 259 (48.4%) patients, 26.2% (58) of men vs 64% (201) of women, respectively. The median follow-up ASCVD score was 6.55% (2.8%-15.4%) vs 2.1% (0.9%-4.8%) (p<0.001 with ≥20% (high risk) in 19% (11) vs 2% (4) and <5% (low risk) in 34.5% (20) vs 77.1% (155) of men and women, respectively). Conclusion(s) There is a high prevalence of modifiable risk factors for atherosclerotic CVD such as HTN, diabetes and obesity in women as compared with men, but interestingly, ASCVD risk score at the baseline as well as at the follow-up is high in men versus women. Some other non-modifiable risk factors like age, gender and blood lipid profile may also contribute to this difference between the high prevalence of risk factors and low ASCVD risk score in women. With appropriate follow-up and proper counselling, the looming CVD can be better prevented in this population. A dedicated preventive cardiology clinic for the identification of high-risk women and systematic follow-up is needed to predict their actual CVD risk.