• Christof Prugger, Jan Heidrich, Jürgen Wellmann, Ralf Dittrich, Stefan-Martin Brand, Ralph Telgmann, Günter Breithardt, Holger Reinecke, Hans Scheld, Peter Kleine-Katthöfer, Peter U Heuschmann, and Ulrich Keil.
• Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
• Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2012 Apr 1; 109 (17): 303310303-10.

BackgroundTarget values for cardiovascular risk factors in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) are stated in guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. We studied secular trends in risk factors over a 12-year period among CHD patients in the region of Münster, Germany.MethodsThe cross-sectional EUROASPIRE I, II and III surveys were performed in multiple centers across Europe. For all three, the Münster region was the participating German region. In the three periods 1995/96, 1999/2000, and 2006/07, the surveys included (respectively) 392, 402 and 457 ≤ 70-year-old patients with CHD in Münster who had sustained a coronary event at least 6 months earlier.ResultsThe prevalence of smoking remained unchanged, with 16.8% in EUROASPIRE I and II and 18.4% in EUROASPIRE III (p=0.898). On the other hand, high blood pressure and high cholesterol both became less common across the three EUROASPIRE studies (60.7% to 69.4% to 55.3%, and 94.3% to 83.4% to 48.1%, respectively; p<0.001 for both). Obesity became more common (23.0% to 30.6% to 43.1%, p<0.001), as did treatment with antihypertensive and lipid-lowering drugs (80.4% to 88.6% to 94.3%, and 35.0% to 67.4% to 87.0%, respectively; p<0.001 for both).ConclusionThe observed trends in cardiovascular risk factors under-score the vital need for better preventive strategies in patients with CHD.

24 keywords...

hide…