WHO MONICA Project: Risk Factors

The WHO MONICA Project was designed to measure trends and determinants in cardiovascular disease mortality and coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease morbidity, and to assess the extent to which these trends are related to changes in known risk factors in 39 collaborative centres in 26 countries. Results of the baseline population surveys are presented. Use of standardized methods allows cross-sectional comparisons to be made of data from the 39 collaborating centres. The proportion of smokers varied between 34-62% among men and 3-52% among women. The median systolic blood pressure (SBP) values varied from 121 mmHg to 145 mmHg in men and from 117 mmHg to 143 mmHg in women. Median diastolic blood pressure (DBP) values varied from 74 mmHg to 91 mmHg in men and from 72 mmHg to 89 mmHg in women. The prevalence of actual hypertension, defined as SBP and/or DBP greater than 159/94 mmHg, or on antihypertensive medication, varied between 8.4% and 45.3% in men and between 12.6% and 40.5% in women. Median serum total cholesterol values varied from 4.1 mmol/l to 6.4 mmol/l in men and from 4.2 mmol/l to 6.4 mmol/l in women. The results show that there is a large variability in the risk-factor patterns among the MONICA populations. They also indicate that populations with low levels of risk factors are in the minority.