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Article
Prevalence of Cardiovascular Risk Factors among Cancer Patients in the United States
Department of Biostatistics Faculty Publications
  • Muni Rubens, Baptist Health South Florida
  • Sandeep Appunni, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
  • Venkataraghavan Ramamoorthy, University of Central Missouri
  • Anshul Saxena, Baptist Health South Florida
  • Sankalp Das, Baptist Health South Florida
  • Chintan Bhatt, Baptist Health South Florida
  • Belinda K. Boulanger, Baptist Health South Florida
  • Ana Viamonte-Ros, Baptist Health South Florida
  • Emir Veledar, Baptist Health South Florida
Date of this Version
10-1-2019
Document Type
Article
Abstract

Background: Cancer and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are leading causes of morbidity and mortality. We analyzed national data to examine the prevalence of CVD risk factors among adult cancer survivors in the United States. Methods: Participants included adults ≥18 years of age from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2002 to 2013-2014. CVD risk factors included hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, obesity, smoking, and physical activity. Prevalence of 1, 2, or ≥3 CVD risk factors was compared between cancer and noncancer participants. All CVD risk factors were adjusted for age and smoking and additionally for sex. Differences in CVD risk factors among cancer and noncancer participants were identified using logistic regression analysis. Results: Among 35,379 eligible participants, 2906 (8.4%) had a history of cancer. The proportion of participants having a single CVD risk factor was lower among cancer survivors compared with noncancer participants (25.8% vs. 33.9%, P < 0.001). The proportions of participants having two CVD risk factors (33.5% vs. 24.6%, P < 0.001) and ≥3 CVD risk factors (27.4% vs. 16.4%, P < 0.001) were higher among cancer survivors. However, these associations lost significance upon adjusting for age. The odds of total hypertension (odds ratio [OR] 1.25, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.11-1.40) and total diabetes (OR 1.33, 95% CI: 1.08-1.65) were significantly higher among cancer survivors. Conclusions: Our study showed that adult cancer survivors in the United States had higher levels of CVD risk factors primarily due to age-related factors, in addition to cancer complications. There is a significant need for improved CVD risk assessment and prevention services for cancer survivors.

Citation Information
Muni Rubens, Sandeep Appunni, Venkataraghavan Ramamoorthy, Anshul Saxena, et al.. "Prevalence of Cardiovascular Risk Factors among Cancer Patients in the United States" (2019)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/emir-veledar/415/