RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To describe the basic characteristics and lifestyles of the population of a Health Region, on medication for two or more cardiovascular risk factors. DESIGN: Cross-sectional descriptive study. SETTING: Tarragona Primary Care. PARTICIPANTS: The subjects, less than 65 years-old, were identified by the dispensing data of hypertensive, glucose-lowering and lipid-lowering pharmaceutical drugs. MAIN MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Specific structured questionnaires were designed for each drugs group, and the information was gathered by telephone. Age, sex, sedentarism, alcohol and tobacco habits, diet and body mass index were analysed. A total of 1201 patients, with a mean age of 58.9±7.6 years, were interviewed. There were 54.2% males. A total of 636 (53.0%) subjects took anti-hypertensive and cholesterol lowering drugs, 212 (17.7%) anti-hypertensive and glucose lowering drugs, and 128 (10.8%) cholesterol lowering and glucose lowering drugs, and 225 (18.7%) patients took drugs from the three groups. There were 19.2% active smokers, 5.7% stated excessive alcohol consumption, 266 (22.2%) stated that they did not follow any diet, and 15% were sedentary or did a minimum of physical activity. The mean body mass index was 29.9±4.9 kg/m(2), being highest among the subjects who took anti-hypertensive and glucose lowering drugs (P<0.001), and 44.2% were obese. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately one fifth of the subjects who took at least 2 pharmacological groups was an active smoker, one quarter of the total did not follow a diet, half were obese and two-thirds did little or no physical activity. These results show low compliance to hygienic-dietetic measures by patients with an increased cardiovascular risk.