PURPOSE: To develop a survey about risk factors for atherosclerosis in a > or = 20-year-old population from São José do Rio Preto, and compare the results with those obtained in a similar survey in 1991. METHODS: Quantitative survey with sample stratified by sex and age. The individuals (a total of 646, 303 men) where contacted in outpatient facilities from the Health Secretary and other populated sites, distributed by geographic zone and social class of different neighborhoods. The standard error of the survey was 4%, and the confidence interval was 95%. RESULTS: A) Mean HDL-cholesterol (only in 1997): male gender 43.7±15mg/dL, female gender 49.6±13.5mg/dL (p<0.001, 95% CI 3.7 a 8.1). B) Mean total cholesterol in 1991 vs 1997: for the global population 192.5±48.9mg/dL vs 190.5±42.5mg/dL (p=NS); for men 187.6±53.3mg/dL vs 190.5±42.5mg/dL (p=NS); for women 196.8±40mg/dL vs 187.6±37.8mg/dL (p=0.008, 95% CI 2.4 a 15.9). C) By regression analysis, the variables that correlated significantly with cholesterol levels, in both surveys, were: age (p<0.001), systolic (p<0.001) and diastolic (p<0.001) arterial pressure, diet (p<0.001). Female gender showed correlation only in the 1991 survey (p=0.011), and sedentarism only in 1997 (p=0.014). CONCLUSION: The mean cholesterol levels in the adult population of São José do Rio Preto are very favorable and, in female gender, showed a significant decrease in the 1997 survey, relatively to the 1991 survey.
risk factors; cholesterol; population survey
