Vascular risk in outpatient from Internal Medicine departments. MICARE Study

Background and objectives: The population attended in the Spanish Internal Medicine departments is of increasing age, but the prevalence of vascular risk factors and its degree of control are unknown, as well as the differences by type of hospital or consulting room. Patients and methods: Epidemiologic, transversal and metacentric study in patients >= 18 years treated in outpatient Internal Medicine hospital. Two-hundred and ninety physicians from 17 Autonomic Communities participated in the study. The type of hospital or consulting room was also recorded. Blood pressure control was defined as <140/90 mmHg (<130/80 mmHg in diabetics or patients with vascular disease), LDL-cholesterol control when < 130 mg/dl (<100 mg/dl in diabetic or vascular disease) and diabetes control if glycated hemoglobin was < 7%. Results: Data from 2,704 patients was collected (54% men) mean age (SD) 64,1 (14,5) years. Ninety-three percent of them had at least one cardiovascular risk factor: hypertension 73.9%, dyslipidemia 59.5%, abdominal obesity 43.4%, diabetes 39.5%. Fifty percent had some target organ damaged, 46.7% showed vascular disease and 71.2% a high or very high vascular risk. Control over risk factors was: hypertension 33.8%, cholesterol-LDL 40.8% and diabetes 50.7%. There were no differences between type of hospital or type of outpatient consultancy. Conclusions: Over 90% of patients treated in outpatient consultancies of Internal Medicine departments present vascular risk factors, regardless of the type of hospital or type of consulting room. Risk factors control was poor. (C) 2012 Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.