Background:

Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of disability and death globally. Total cardiovascular risk (CR) is the probability of having a cardiovascular event in a defined period and is determined by the combined effect of risk factors.

Objectives:

The aim of this study was to estimate CR and describe its distribution in Argentina in 2018.

Methods:

Cardiovascular risk was analyzed in 11,450 individuals over 30 years of age from the 4th National Risk Factor Survey (NRFS). The Framingham risk equations used to estimate and calibrate global CR classified the individuals into the following three groups: optimum CR (<5.9%), moderate CR (6 to 19.9%) and high CR (>20%). Bayesian prevalence and credibility intervals (BCI) were estimated under the non-informative beta prior distribution.

Results:

Nationally, 60.6% of the individuals presented moderate/high CR. Moderate CR by region was distributed homogeneously. When analyzing extreme CRs, the metropolitan (47.6%) and Pampean (28.6%) regions presented the greatest incidence of high CR. The highest prevalence of optimum CR was found in the Patagonian region, followed by the Northwest, Northeast and Cuyo, all above 40%. The analysis by province showed that the greatest incidence of high CR was found in Buenos Aires (49.9%) and CABA (45.7%). At all levels, the prevalence of moderate/high CR is much higher in men, with the exception of the metropolitan region.

Conclusions:

Geographical differences position the metropolitan region as the one with maximum CR due to the great incidence of high and moderate CR. Prevalence of high CR in men is almost 4 times greater than that registered in women.

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