The prevalence of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and features of the psycho-emotional state in the practice of a family doctor in conditions of a humanitarian crisis

Abstract

Purpose. Cardiovascular diseases occupy a leading place in the structure of causes of mortality in Europe. Due to military operations, Ukraine is in first place in the world in terms of the prevalence of depression. Cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders are closely related not only to serious impairments in everyday functioning, but also to the risk of premature death. A survey was conducted to assess the prevalence of CVD risk factors and the characteristics of the psycho-emotional state among primary care patients. Materials and methods. To assess the prevalence of the most common modified risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, 198 patients were surveyed, of whom 35.4% were men and 64.6% were women. The average age of the respondents was 53.9 years±14.7. To assess the prevalence of mental disorders among patients, we used screening questionnaires for anxiety and depression PHQ-9, GAD-7. Statistical analysis was performed in the Jamovi 2.2.5 program. Mean values are presented as M±SD.Spearman’s rank correlation was used to assess the relationship between the data. Pearson’s χ² criterion was used to analyze qualitative data. The level of significance was considered p<0.05.Results. According to the survey results, about 50% of patients indicate that they have a history of arterial hypertension. The prevalence of arterial hypertension increased with age (p<0.05). 20% of patients indicated the presence of lipid metabolism disorders. Almost 16% of patients called themselves active smokers, of which 28% were men and 8.5% were women (p<0.05). 32% of women were overweight, 27% were obese. 40% of men were overweight and 30% were obese. Overweight and obesity were statistically significantly more common in men than in women (p<0.05). During the survey with the screening questionnaire PHQ-9 for the level of depression, 30% of patients were found to have clinically pronounced depression, in particular in 22% of men and 35% of women (p<0.05).A significant positive correlation was found between body mass index and the level of systolic blood pressure at measurement (pho=0.460, p <0.001), indicating a probable link between obesity and hypertension, a weak positive correlation between levels of depression and the level of blood pressure at measurement (pho=0.188 p <0.05), indicating that the presence of depression may worsen the course and control of arterial hypertension.Conclusions. There is a high prevalence of modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, such as arterial hypertension, obesity, smoking. The prevalence of risk factors for cardiovascular disorders increases with age.Men are statistically more likely to be overweight or obese and are also smokers than women. The presence of depression can worsen the course and control of chronic cardiovascular diseases, in particular arterial hypertension. In conditions of humanitarian crisis and martial law, there is a significant increase in the frequency of mental disorders, in particular depressive and anxiety disorders.The family doctor needs to work actively on the timely identification and correction of risk factors, as well as the most common mental disorders.