Top

International Journal of Public Health

Published in:

01-10-2012 | Original Article

Prevalence of self-reported cardiovascular risk factors in Portuguese women: a survey after delivery

Authors: Elisabete Alves, Sofia Correia, Henrique Barros, Ana Azevedo

Published in: International Journal of Public Health | Issue 5/2012

Abstract

Objectives

To estimate the pre-pregnancy prevalence of overweight/obesity, smoking, hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes mellitus, in women who delivered a live born.

Methods

In a birth cohort study, puerperae were consecutively recruited at five public maternities of Porto, Portugal (2005–2006). We included 7,381 women with complete data for the current analysis. Socioeconomic characteristics, smoking habits, pre-pregnancy weight and chronic diseases diagnosis were self-reported and height was measured.

Results

Before pregnancy, 21.3% of women were overweight and 8.8% were obese, 26.6% smoked and 11.2% were former smokers. The prevalence of hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes mellitus was 1.7, 1.7 and 0.6%, respectively, with an evident tendency to cluster. The prevalence of all cardiovascular risk factors, except smoking, increased with age and body mass index. Education and income were inversely associated with excessive weight. Current smokers were younger, thinner and in a lower socioeconomic position, whereas former smokers were older and in a higher socioeconomic position.

Conclusion

Despite the low prevalence of hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes, their tendency to cluster and the increased prevalence among overweight/obese women highlight the high level of risk of this young female population.

Almeida J, Machado F, Costa A (2006) Social classes and values in Europe. Portuguese J Soc Sci 5:95–117CrossRef

Alves E, Lunet N, Correia S, Morais V, Azevedo A, Barros H (2010) Inter-rater variability in medical record review and agreement with self-reported data collected by questionnaire. Gac Sanit 25(3):211–219CrossRef

Ball K, Mishra GD, Crawford D (2003) Social factors and obesity: an investigation of the role of health behaviours. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 27:394–403PubMedCrossRef

Bell R, Bailey K, Cresswell T, Hawthorne G, Critchley J, Lewis-Barned N (2008) Trends in prevalence and outcomes of pregnancy in women with pre-existing type I and type II diabetes. BJOG 115:445–452PubMedCrossRef

Brunner Huber LR (2007) Validity of self-reported height and weight in women of reproductive age. Matern Child Health J 11:137–144PubMedCrossRef

Carmichael SL, Ahluwalia IB (2000) Correlates of postpartum smoking relapse. Results from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS). Am J Prev Med 19:193–196PubMedCrossRef

Catalano PM (2010) Obesity, insulin resistance, and pregnancy outcome. Reproduction 140:365–371PubMedCrossRef

Chu SY, Kim SY, Bish CL (2009) Prepregnancy obesity prevalence in the United States, 2004–2005. Matern Child Health J 13:614–620PubMedCrossRef

Costa A, Mauritti R, Martins S, Machado F, Almeida J (2000) Classes sociais na Europa. Sociologia, problemas e prática 34:9–43

Daviglus ML, Stamler J, Pirzada A, Yan LL, Garside DB, Liu K, Wang R, Dyer AR, Lloyd-Jones DM, Greenland P (2004) Favorable cardiovascular risk profile in young women and long-term risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. JAMA 292:1588–1592PubMedCrossRef

Dewalt DA, Berkman ND, Sheridan S, Lohr KN, Pignone MP (2004) Literacy and health outcomes: a systematic review of the literature. J Gen Intern Med 19:1228–1239PubMedCrossRef

do Carmo I, Dos Santos O, Camolas J, Vieira J, Carreira M, Medina L, Reis L, Myatt J, Galvao-Teles A (2008) Overweight and obesity in Portugal: national prevalence in 2003–2005. Obes Rev 9:11–19PubMed

Drewnowski A, Darmon N (2005) The economics of obesity: dietary energy density and energy cost. Am J Clin Nutr 82:265S–273SPubMed

EURO-PERISTAT Project with SCPE EUROCAT EURONEOSTAT (EURO-PERISTAT), 2008. European Perinatal Health Report

Expert Panel on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight in Adults (1998) Clinical guidelines on the identification, evaluation, and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults: executive summary. Am J Clin Nutr 68:899–917

Ford ES, Ajani UA, Croft JB, Critchley JA, Labarthe DR, Kottke TE, Giles WH, Capewell S (2007) Explaining the decrease in US deaths from coronary disease, 1980–2000. N Engl J Med 356:2388–2398PubMedCrossRef

Frontini MG, Srinivasan SR, Elkasabany A, Berenson GS (2003) Awareness of hypertension and dyslipidemia in a semirural population of young adults: the Bogalusa Heart Study. Prev Med 36:398–402PubMedCrossRef

Giles-Corti B, Donovan RJ (2002) Socioeconomic status differences in recreational physical activity levels and real and perceived access to a supportive physical environment. Prev Med 35:601–611PubMedCrossRef

Gutierrez-Fisac JL, Lopez Garcia E, Rodriguez-Artalejo F, Banegas Banegas JR, Guallar-Castillon P (2002) Self-perception of being overweight in Spanish adults. Eur J Clin Nutr 56:866–872PubMedCrossRef

Halkjaer J, Holst C, Sorensen TI (2003) Intelligence test score and educational level in relation to BMI changes and obesity. Obes Res 11:1238–1245PubMedCrossRef

Hoedjes M, Berks D, Vogel I, Franx A, Visser W, Duvekot JJ, Habbema JD, Steegers EA, Raat H (2010) Effect of postpartum lifestyle interventions on weight loss, smoking cessation, and prevention of smoking relapse: a systematic review. Obstet Gynecol Surv 65:631–652PubMedCrossRef

Inquérito Nacional de Saúde 2005/2006 (INS) (2009) Instituto nacional de saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge. Instituto nacional de estatística, Lisboa

Instituto do Emprego e Formação Profissional (IEFP) (2001) Classificação Nacional de Profissões, Versão 1994, Lisboa

Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE) (2009) Estatísticas demográficas 2008. População e Sociedade, Lisboa

Khashan AS, Kenny LC (2009) The effects of maternal body mass index on pregnancy outcome. Eur J Epidemiol 24:697–705PubMedCrossRef

Lloyd-Jones DM, Leip EP, Larson MG, D’Agostino RB, Beiser A, Wilson PW, Wolf PA, Levy D (2006) Prediction of lifetime risk for cardiovascular disease by risk factor burden at 50 years of age. Circulation 113:791–798PubMedCrossRef

Macedo ME, Lima MJ, Silva AO, Alcantara P, Ramalhinho V, Carmona J (2005) Prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in Portugal: the PAP study. J Hypertens 23:1661–1666PubMedCrossRef

Machado A, Nicolau R, Matias Dias C (2009) Tobacco consumption by the portuguese population. Data from the 2005–2006 National Health Survey. Rev Port Pneumol 15:1005–1027PubMed

McBride CM, Emmons KM, Lipkus IM (2003) Understanding the potential of teachable moments: the case of smoking cessation. Health Educ Res 18:156–170PubMedCrossRef

McLaren L (2007) Socioeconomic status and obesity. Epidemiol Rev 29:29–48PubMedCrossRef

Moos MK (2004) Preconceptional health promotion: progress in changing a prevention paradigm. J Perinat Neonatal Nurs 18:2–13PubMed

Mosca L, Mochari-Greenberger H, Dolor RJ, Newby LK, Robb KJ (2010) Twelve-year follow-up of American women’s awareness of cardiovascular disease risk and barriers to heart health. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 3:120–127PubMedCrossRef

Osborn CY, Paasche-Orlow MK, Bailey SC, Wolf MS (2011) The mechanisms linking health literacy to behavior and health status. Am J Health Behav 35:118–128PubMedCrossRef

Paeratakul S, White MA, Williamson DA, Ryan DH, Bray GA (2002) Sex, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and BMI in relation to self-perception of overweight. Obes Res 10:345–350PubMedCrossRef

Povoa AM, Costa F, Rodrigues T, Patricio B, Cardoso F (2008) Prevalence of hypertension during pregnancy in Portugal. Hypertens Pregnancy 27:279–284PubMedCrossRef

Rosenberg TJ, Garbers S, Lipkind H, Chiasson MA (2005) Maternal obesity and diabetes as risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes: differences among 4 racial/ethnic groups. Am J Public Health 95:1545–1551PubMedCrossRef

Santos AC, Barros H (2004) Smoking patterns in a community sample of Portuguese adults, 1999–2000. Prev Med 38:114–119PubMedCrossRef

Scuteri A, Najjar SS, Orru M, Albai G, Strait J, Tarasov KV, Piras MG, Cao A, Schlessinger D, Uda M, Lakatta EG (2009) Age- and gender-specific awareness, treatment, and control of cardiovascular risk factors and subclinical vascular lesions in a founder population: the SardiNIA Study. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 19:532–541PubMedCrossRef

Stepan H, Scheithauer S, Dornhofer N, Kramer T, Faber R (2006) Obesity as an obstetric risk factor: does it matter in a perinatal center? Obesity 14:770–773PubMedCrossRef

Wardle J, Griffith J (2001) Socioeconomic status and weight control practices in British adults. J Epidemiol Community Health 55:185–190PubMedCrossRef

Wilson PW, Kannel WB, Silbershatz H, D’Agostino RB (1999) Clustering of metabolic factors and coronary heart disease. Arch Intern Med 159:1104–1109PubMedCrossRef

Title: Prevalence of self-reported cardiovascular risk factors in Portuguese women: a survey after delivery
Authors: Elisabete Alves
Sofia Correia
Henrique Barros
Ana Azevedo
Publication date: 01-10-2012
Publisher: SP Birkhäuser Verlag Basel
Published in: International Journal of Public Health / Issue 5/2012
Print ISSN: 1661-8556
Electronic ISSN: 1661-8564
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-012-0340-6

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on sleep in brain health

Springer Medicine

Prevalence of self-reported cardiovascular risk factors in Portuguese women: a survey after delivery

Abstract

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on sleep in brain health

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 5/2012

Projected impact of urbanization on cardiovascular disease in china

Air pollution interventions and their impact on public health

Prevalence of exposure to occupational risks during pregnancy in Spain

Smokers’ compliance with smoke-free policies, and non-smokers’ assertiveness for smoke-free air in the workplace: a study from the Balkans

Erratum to: Inequalities of health indicators for policy makers: six hints

Support for tobacco control interventions: do country of origin and socioeconomic status make a difference?