Myocardial Infarction and Traditional Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Older Patients in Primary Care.
Ellen Vanuza Martins Bertelli, Guilherme José Silva Ribeiro, Francisco Railson Bispo de Barros and 3 others
PMID 41337530WHAT IT FOUND
10.5% of 1,322 older primary-care patients in northern Brazil had myocardial infarction.
MI was more frequent with hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity and kidney disease; smoking was not.
Key findings
0110.5% of 1,322 older adults treated in primary care had myocardial infarction.
02Hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, obesity and chronic kidney disease were associated with MI, while smoking was not.
03The paper reported odds ratios for MI of 2.80 for hypercholesterolemia, 5.24 for hypertension, 5.27 for diabetes, 2.87 for obesity and 5.20 for chronic kidney disease.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The cross-sectional design cannot show that hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, obesity or CKD caused MI. The researchers did not enter the data; they analysed records created by primary-care staff, so underreporting is possible. Records with missing key information were excluded, which may affect how well the results represent all older adults in primary care. Smoking was self-reported, and the null smoking result may reflect few reported smokers or socially desirable answers. Conditions were recorded as present or absent, without severity, so the study cannot show how much risk rises with worse hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol, obesity or kidney disease. The findings come from one Brazilian state, Roraima, and may not apply to older adults in other regions. Income and alcohol use were not recorded, so their possible effects on MI risk are unknown.
Declared interests
Funded by Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel, Brazil, under Financial Code 001. No other conflicts are reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these associations as proof that treating hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity or kidney disease prevents MI. The study was cross-sectional and only showed these conditions were more common in older adults with MI.