Fatores de risco e seu reconhecimento: como a ignorância e a adoção de estratégias podem influenciar no desenvolvimento de doenças cardiovasculares

Abstract

JUSTIFICATION AND OBJECTIVE: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) affect all social groups, causing immense impact on public health expenditures, besides generating a considerable number of premature deaths. The appearance of morbidities associated with CVD requires significant investments in research, surveillance, prevention, health promotion and the defense of a healthy life. Based on this, the present work had the objective to analyze the importance of the level of knowledge of patients with CVD for the prevention of these above-mentioned diseases. METHODS: This is a observational and cross-sectional epidemiological study based on data collection from clinical promptuaries and interview of patients of both genders, patients with CVD hospitalized at the Seridó Regional Hospital Unit (UHRS), in the city of Caicó/RN, with analysis of socioeconomic data and information related to dietary/daily habits, Risk Factors (RF) for CVD and the course of the disease that provoked the hospitalization, using the chi-square test, adopting the level of significance of 5%. The prevalence ratios (PR) were calculated adjusted by age and schooling, and their respective 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) by means of Poisson regression. RESULTS: Forty-one individuals were investigated, majority male individuals (82.9%), aged 60-69 years (19.5%, with a mean of 65 years), self-declared pardos (61%), with complete elementary education (61%) and monthly income of up to 1 minimum wage (63.5%). CVD more incident was the AMI (68.3%), the main RF identified were low literacy (82.9%), HBP (78%), sedentary lifestyle (73.2%) and smoking (65.9%). In addition, 48.8% informed that they do not know what a RF is. CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence and simultaneity of these RF shows the need and importance of strengthening public health policies and multiprofessional health teams, in order to precociousily recognize the RF, in addition to the development of more health education actions in the Primary Health Care.