{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.023796347537354733, 'fraction_numerical': 0.012174875484228001, 'mean_word_length': 4.986754966887418, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Awareness and treatment of cardiovascular disease risk factors among middle-aged Swedish men and women.

OBJECTIVE
To study awareness and treatment of risk factors for cardiovascular disease in a primary care district where a screening program for hypercholesterolaemia involving one third of the population had been conducted 7 years earlier.


DESIGN
A semi-structured telephone survey on four risk factors; blood pressure, serum cholesterol, blood sugar, and smoking habits.


SETTING
The study was performed in a defined area in Blekinge county in Sweden.


SUBJECTS
A random sample of the general population aged 40-49 years, in total 356 people.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Awareness of individual risk factors, for cardiovascular diseases, on-going medication, and lifestyle changes in order to lower individual risks.


RESULTS
A total of 95% had had their blood pressure measured at least once, compared with 69% for serum cholesterol. Twenty-two per cent had at some time been told that they had high blood pressure, and, of these, almost half (44%) received pharmacological treatment. Among the 62 subjects who were informed about hyperlipidaemia only 5% were taking a lipid-reducing drug. Among present smokers, 38% had had at least one quitting episode during the previous 2 years with a median duration of 60 days.


CONCLUSION
In a general population there is a difference between blood pressure and cholesterol check-up and medicalization. Screening activities seem to raise the awareness of cardiovascular risk factors in a population, but when evaluating the tendency to change lifestyle the contagious effects of screening activities might be taken into account. Finding quick-relapsing former smokers among current non-smokers may be of importance when planning smoking cessation activities.