Introduction:

cardiovascular disease (CVD) continues to be the leading cause of death worldwide in women, associated with different cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF), both traditional, sex-specific and emerging.

Objective:

to know the frequency of traditional and sex-specific CVRF in the Mexican female population based on the National Survey of Cardiovascular Risk Factors (ENAFARC Mexico) results.

Material and methods:

surveys collected by doctors, nutritionists or nursing staff were conducted in 23 cities in Mexico. An individual standardized questionnaire with closed answers, anthropometry and laboratory tests was applied, aimed at women who attended primary care, specialty care and detection campaigns in the open population.

Results:

analysis included 2,304 surveys. The average age was 53.4 to 15.8 years old. Rich carbohydrate and saturated fat diets were reported in 51 to 62%, sedentary lifestyle in 60.5%, obesity in 32.7%, hypertension in 41.2%, dyslipidemia in 34.5%, diabetes in 21.3%, and 51.2% had metabolic syndrome criteria. 54.4% were in the postmenopausal stage; of these, 22.1% with premature menopause and 47% had at least two added risk factors (OR 2.91, 95% CI 2.56-3.31). Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy were significantly associated with the development of chronic hypertension ten years after delivery (OR 2.53 with 95% CI 1.93-3.31).

Conclusions:

there is a high frequency of traditional, sex-specific and emerging CVRF in Mexican women, mainly in postmenopausal. The etiology seems to be multifactorial and importantly related to various sociocultural determinants.