Key result
Elderly primary care patients show high cardiovascular burden, including ~63% hypertension alongside CHD and HF.
Why the study?
What is the prevalence of cardiovascular disorders among the elderly in primary care in Estonia?
Cross-Sectional (n=811)
What is the prevalence of cardiovascular disorders among the elderly in primary care in Estonia?
High prevalence of cardiovascular disorders, particularly CHD and HF, among the elderly in Estonia suggests potential over-diagnosis and highlights the need for strict diagnostic criteria in primary care.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Alerts clinicians to high cardiovascular comorbidity in Estonian elderly primary care; leaves open whether rates reflect overdiagnosis or require stricter criteria.
OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of diagnoses of cardiovascular disorders among the elderly in family practice. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Estonia, population aged 65 years or older (206,915 persons). SUBJECTS: 811 elderly persons selected randomly from the lists of family practitioners. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of hypertension, hypotension, coronary heart disease (CHD), myocardial infarction (MI), heart failure (HF) and cardiac arrhythmias; differences between the genders and age groups. RESULTS: The prevalence of cardiovascular disorders was as follows: hypertension 63.2%, hypotension 11.1%, CHD 56.5%, MI 9.8%, HF 41.4% and arrhythmias 37.5%. Women had a significantly higher prevalence of hypertension and men of MI. The prevalence of CHD and hypotension was significantly higher in the oldest elderly persons. CONCLUSION: Among the older population in Estonia, cardiovascular disorders that have broader diagnostic criteria and need expensive methods for verifying (CHD, HF) have a high prevalence and are most likely over-diagnosed. The need for strict and simple diagnostic methods for these disorders in primary care practice continues to be serious.
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Saks et al. (2003) conducted a cross-sectional in Cardiovascular disorders (n=811). Elderly population in primary care was evaluated on Prevalence of hypertension, hypotension, coronary heart disease (CHD), myocardial infarction (MI), heart failure (HF) and cardiac arrhythmias. Among elderly primary care patients in Estonia, the prevalence of cardiovascular disorders was high, including hypertension (63.2%), coronary heart disease (56.5%), and heart failure (41.4%).
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