The Dynamics of Cardiovascular Risk—An Analysis of the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) Poland Cohort Study

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to analyze the major cardiovascular risk (CVR) factors and their trends in the study population. Methods: The results of subjects in the Polish Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological Study (PURE) study group were interpreted. CVR was calculated for each participant according to the Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE2) scale or the Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation–Older Persons (SCORE2–OP) scale. Data from the beginning of the analysis (2013) and nine years later (2022) were included. In addition, the use of lipid–lowering therapy (LLT) and meeting the low–density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL–c) target criterion at the beginning and end of the study were analyzed. Results: Patients in the high and very high CVR groups who had abnormal LDL–c results accounted for 64% and 91% of their group in 2013 and 70% and 92% in 2022, respectively. Conclusions: Regardless of age, patients using LLT at the start of the analysis had a greater increase in future CVR, especially if they had lipid abnormalities at the start of the study. This may be due to reverse causality and multimorbidity in these patients, highlighting the importance of appropriate treatment of lipid abnormalities.

Keywords

• epidemiological study
• cardiovascular risk
• lipid–lowering therapy