OBJECTIVE:
to describe chronic disease risk and protective factor prevalence in the Brazilian adult population and analyze the differences according to socio-demographic variables.
METHODS:
this was a cross-sectional study using data from the 2012 Surveillance System for Risk and Protective Factors (Vigitel) containing information about adults living in Brazilian state capitals. Prevalence and respective 95% Confidence Intervals were estimated according to gender, age and education level.
RESULTS:
45,448 adults were interviewed. Prevalence was as follows: smoking 12.1% (95%CI: 11.5%-12.8%); physical inactivity 14.9% (95%CI: 14.2%-15.5%); abusive alcohol consumption 18.4% (95% CI: 17.75%-19.2%); excess weight 51.0% (95%CI: 50.1%-51.9%) and obesity 17.4% (95%CI: 16.7%-18.1%). The risk factors studied were associated with being older, being male and having less schooling.
CONCLUSION:
there are differences in prevalence of risk and protective factors according socio-demographic patterns and these variations must be considered in health promotion strategies.
Risk Factors; Chronic Disease; Health Surveys; Epidemiological Surveillance; Cross-Sectional Studies
