Estimation of the cardiovascular risk using world health organization/international society of hypertension risk prediction charts in Central Vietnam.

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) being the leading cause of the morbidity and mortality in Vietnam, the objective of this study was to estimate the total 10-year CVD risk among adults aged 40-69 years by utilizing World Health Organization/International Society of Hypertension (WHO/ISH) risk prediction charts in Central Vietnam.
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, multi-staged sampling was used to select 938 participants from a general population aged from 40 to 69. The CVD risk factors were then collected throughout the interviews with a standardized questionnaire, anthropometric measurements and a blood test. The cardiovascular risk was calculated using the WHO/ISH risk prediction charts.
Results: According to the WHO/ISH charts, the proportion of moderate risk (10-20%) and high risk (>20%) among the surveyed participants were equal (5.1%). When "blood pressure of more than 160/100 mmHg" was applied, the proportion of moderate risk reduced to 2.3% while the high risk increased markedly to 12.8%. Those proportions were higher in men than in women (at 18.3% and 8.5% respectively, p-value <0.001, among the high-risk group), increasing with age. Male gender, smoking, ethnic minorities, hypertension and diabetes were associated with increased CVD risk.
Conclusions: There was a high burden of CVD risk in Central Vietnam as assessed with the WHO/ISH risk prediction charts, especially in men and among the ethnic minorities. The use of WHO/ISH charts provided a feasible and affordable screening tool in estimating the cardiovascular risk in primary care settings.
Competing Interests: The authors have no financial or personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence their work. The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. The authors do not receive any employment or consultancy from the China Medical Board of New York; the authors do not have to submit any patents, products in development, or marketed products to this funder, either. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.