Trends in blood lipid levels, blood pressure, alcohol and smoking habits from 1985 to 2002: results from INTERGENE and GOT-MONICA

Background Favourable trends in cardiovascular disease have been observed in Sweden. The aim of this study was to study secular trends in a variety of cardiovascular risk factors.Methods Total-, low-density (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) serum cholesterol; serum triglycerides; systolic and diastolic blood pressure; self-reported smoking and alcohol consumption were studied in repeated cross-sectional surveys. Data from four population-based samples in Goteborg, Sweden were used—WHO MONICA project 1985, 1990 and 1995, and INTERGENE 2002. A total of 2931 females and 2691 males aged 25–64 consisting of 1021–1624 randomly selected subjects at each survey period participated.Results Serum cholesterol levels showed downward trends but the decline in both total- and LDL-cholesterol seems to be levelling off from 1995 and onwards. No significant changes were observed in serum triglyceride, HDL-serum cholesterol or blood pressure levels. The majority of the participants had higher total- and LDL-serum ch...