Prevalence of angina and cardiovascular risk factors in the different regions of Spain:: PANES study

Introduction and objective. The study of angina prevalence has received little attention in the analysis of the dimension of coronary heart disease. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of angina and cardiovascular risk factors in the 45 to 74 year-old population of the different autonomous regions of Spain. Methods. A sample of 10.248 subjects was recruited. Sampling was stratified by gender and age groups (45-54, 55-64 and 65 to 74 years), and proportional to the population distribution of the different; autonomous regions. A multistage sampling was performed, firstly 200 villages were randomly selected, secondly three different; socio-economic household were chosen. Sample unit was neighbouring household. Rose questionnaire of angina and a structured questionnaire to collect socio-demographic and risk factor variables were administered. Results. Angina prevalence in the 45 to 74 year-old Spanish population was 7.5%. The autonomous regions with the higher and lower prevalence were Baleares (11.4%) and Basque Country (3.1%), respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficient between angina prevalence and ischemic heart disease or cardiovascular disease mortality in men and women was 0.52 and 0.55, and 0.31 and 0.44, respectively. The self reported prevalence of hypertension, dislipemia, diabetes and smoking was 31.1%, 24.2%, 14.3% and 34.6% respectively. Conclusions. Angina prevalence in Spain is similar to that of developed countries although significant differences were observed among the autonomous regions of Spain. These differences correlate with those observed in ischemic heart disease or cardiovascular mortality among them and are associated with the cardiovascular risk factors prevalence which also varies among communities.