Prevalence of risk factors in patients with acute myocardial infarction

Objective: To identify the prevalence of risk factors in patients with acute myocardial infarction, treated in a Coronary Intensive Care Unit of a hospital in the northwestern region at the state of Rio Grande do Sul/Brazil. Methodology: Quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional study, performed in the period from April 25 to June 25, 2012, with 48 patients. The variables of interest for this study were sociodemographic conditions, anthropometric data, dietary habits and cardiovascular risk factors. Results: The mean age was 59,9 ± 11,55 years, with predominance of males (81.3%), white skin (83.3%), married (70.8%), incomplete elementary school (72.9%), retired (37.5%), income less than three minimum wages (58.3%), and from the urban area (72.9%). The prevalence of risk factors was distributed as follows: sedentary lifestyle (91.7%), systemic arterial hypertension (63.8%), stress (50%), change in waist circumference (50%), family background (43.7%), smoking (41.7%), overweight (35.5%), obesity (33.4%), dyslipidemia (23%), diabetes mellitus (20.8%), and alcohol consumption (12.5%). Conclusions: Data shows the high prevalence of risk factors in patients who had acute myocardial infarction and leads us to understand the role of health education as a strategy to reduce the causes of morbidity and mortality, in addition to proposing care and self-care actions along with changes in lifestyle habits.