Prevalence of No known Major Risk Factors for Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease Among Residents of US Gulf Coast States

Objective: According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated Americans die annually from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Recent trends in chronic disease morbidity and mortality indicate a growing public health problem. These trends are manifested in the growing disparities from major diseases like heart disease and stroke especially among racial and ethnic minorities, and social and economically disadvantaged Americans. The purpose of the study is to estimate the proportion of residents of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi who are have no known major risk factors for heart disease and stroke. Methods: Using data from the 2001 and 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the study estimates the prevalence of no known major risk factors for cardiovascular disease between among adults aged 18 and above who participated in the survey in 2001 (n=15, 524) and 2009 (n=38, 920). Data were analyzed using Stata version.11.0. Results: Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test of independence and multivariate results, including confidence intervals for percentage change will be presented. Preliminary results suggest that the proportion of Gulf states residents with major risk factors has increased between 2001 and 2009. Blood pressure rates increased from 28.91% in 2001 to 46 % in 2009; cholesterol decreased from 52% to 46%; obesity increased from 34 to 64% and diabetes rates also increased by from 8% in 2001 to 15% in 2009. These differences are statistically significant at the 0.05 significance level. Discussion: Strategies for chronic disease prevention will be discussed.