First Degree Relatives Of Hypertensives: How Much At Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) Risk?

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) has doubled in both rural and urban Indians during the last 20 years. Hypertension is directly responsible for 57% of all stroke deaths & 24% of all CHD deaths in India .Epidemiological studies have highlighted that around 30% to 50% of the interindividual blood pressure variation in the population is genetically determined, hence focusing on first degree relatives of hypertensives is important. Considering the association between HTN & CAD, it is important to identify & manage the risk factors. This study is undertaken with the aim of determining the distribution of cardiovascular risk factors in first degree relatives of patients, to calculate 10 years risk factors for CAD using Framingham Risk Score, to compare the risk in males and females and to identify its relation with age. Material And Methods: A cross sectional analytical study was carried out in the medicine Out- Patient Department (OPD) of the Lata Mangeshkar Hospital. Risk factors profiling was done using Framingham risk score 2008 to calculate 10-year CAD risk based on Framingham risk score evaluation. Result: Risk assessment showed that overall 6.45% of the study population had > 10 % risk of developing CAD in next 10years The overall absolute risk was found higher in males (5.6%) than females (3.3%). The overall absolute risk (26.3%) was found significantly (P=0.0001) more in participants aged >40 years as compared to those up to 40 years of age (1.35%). Conclusion: The most frequent predisposing risk factors towards CAD in the first degree relatives of Hypertensives are age, gender and Hypercholesteremia [Gade S Natl J Integr Res Med, 2020; 11(5):35-40]