Prevalence of Atherosclerosis-Related Risk Factors and Diseases in the Philippines

Abstract

BackgroundWe conducted a survey in 2008 to measure the prevalence of lifestyle-related diseases and risk factors in Philippine adults.MethodsStratified multistage sampling was used to cover the entire Philippine population of adults aged 20 years or older. Using health questionnaires, anthropometric measurements, and blood examinations, the prevalences of atherosclerosis-related risk factors and diseases were determined. Survey results were compared with those obtained in 2003.ResultsOut of 7700 eligible subjects, 64% to 93.7% responded to different survey items. Age-adjusted hypertension prevalence was 24.6% at a single visit and 20.6% when corrected for true prevalence. The prevalence of diabetes was 3.9% on the basis of fasting blood glucose (FBG), 5.2% by FBG and history, and 6.0% when 2-hour post-load plasma glucose level was determined. The prevalence of dyslipidemia was 72.0% and the prevalence of smoking was 31%. The prevalence of obesity was 4.9% by body mass index (BMI), and 10.2% and 65.6% by waist-hip ratio (WHR) in men and women, respectively. The prevalences of coronary, cerebrovascular, and peripheral arterial diseases were 1.1%, 0.9%, and 1.0%, respectively.ConclusionsThe prevalences of risk factors for atherosclerosis were higher in 2008 than in 2003, although the increase in diabetes was not significant and smoking decreased. These findings indicate a need for active collaborative intervention by all government agencies and medical societies in the Philippines.

Knowledge, attitudes, and related practices of Filipino seafarers regarding cardiovascular diseases

“…A high proportion of the respondents had correctly identified some of the known risk factors, preventive measures, and signs and symptoms of CVD. Most had mentioned eating fatty or oily food, cigarette smoking, and lack of exercise as CVD risk factors, which were consistent with the findings in related studies and surveys [18][19][20][21]. Yet, the proportions of those who did not identify stress, salty diet, and genes as CVD risk factors, along with those who identified mosquito bites and sharing utensils as risk factors, are indicative of some knowledge gaps.…”

“…Among the respondents, the proportion of current smoking behaviour at 36.0% was lower than that of the proportion among males in the general population in the Philippines ranging from 44.7% to 73.1% [19][20][21]. However, previous studies had shown that smoking behaviour was higher in the seafaring population than in the general population [31][32][33].…”

Hypertension; East and West

“…Most surveys over the last decade put the prevalence of hypertension at between 19-30% in the West [8] and 25-48% in the East [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Most published national surveys over the last decade has been from outside the West.…”

Safety and Efficacy of Insulin Detemir Among Adult Filipino Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: The Philippine Cohort of the Global A1chieve Study

“…2 According to two Philippine surveys, National Nutrition and Health Survey I (NNHeS I) and NNHeS II, conducted in 2003 and 2008, respectively, the overall prevalence of diabetes based on FBG increased from 3.3% (2003) to 3.9% (2008), while the true prevalence of diabetes based on FBG and questionnaire responses, increased from 4.4% (2003) to 5.2% (2008). 3 The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) reported that the prevalence of diabetes in adults in the 20-79 year age group in the Philippines was 6.5% and estimated it to be 7.9% by 2025. 4 However, a recent study by Soria et al, carried out in a cohort of 1749 individuals has reported much higher 9-year (1999-2007) incidence and prevalence rates of type 2 DM at 16.3% and 28.0% respectively.…”