Original Article
Cardiovascular comorbidities in patients with chronic Chagas disease
Abstract
Background: The treatment of Chagas disease (DC) is an important challenge for health services, especially when the disease is associated with comorbidities that increase cardiovascular risk, such as hypertension (HA), diabetes mellitus (DM), dyslipidemia, obesity, hypothyroidism and lifestyle habits that compromise the health of the individual. This study aims to describe and understand the demographic characteristics of patients in the chronic phase of CD and the risk factors for cardiovascular diseases.
Methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study of 168 patients with chronic CD with the clinical forms: cardiac, digestive, undetermined and mixed. The presence of HA, DM, dyslipidemia, BMI, hypothyroidism, cardiovascular complications and life habits were evaluated.
Results: The percentage of female patients was 50.6%. The mean age was 60.8±8.5 years. Of these patients, 53.6% had the indeterminate form, 20.8% the digestive form, 19.6% the cardiac form and 6.0% the mixed form. Overweight/obesity was present in 65.5% of the patients, HA in 51.2%, dyslipidemia in 45.8%, DM in 23.8%, hypothyroidism in 6.6% and cardiovascular complications in 5.4%. Regarding life habits, 75.6% were sedentary, 14.3% smokers and 23.8% mentioned alcohol consumption.
Conclusions: Individuals with chronic CD are elderly and present comorbidities related to age and increased cardiovascular risk, which may exacerbate the health status of infected individuals. In the absence of specific treatment for chronic CD it is important to adopt measures that aim at the control of these comorbidities and that favor the quality of life of these individuals.
Methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study of 168 patients with chronic CD with the clinical forms: cardiac, digestive, undetermined and mixed. The presence of HA, DM, dyslipidemia, BMI, hypothyroidism, cardiovascular complications and life habits were evaluated.
Results: The percentage of female patients was 50.6%. The mean age was 60.8±8.5 years. Of these patients, 53.6% had the indeterminate form, 20.8% the digestive form, 19.6% the cardiac form and 6.0% the mixed form. Overweight/obesity was present in 65.5% of the patients, HA in 51.2%, dyslipidemia in 45.8%, DM in 23.8%, hypothyroidism in 6.6% and cardiovascular complications in 5.4%. Regarding life habits, 75.6% were sedentary, 14.3% smokers and 23.8% mentioned alcohol consumption.
Conclusions: Individuals with chronic CD are elderly and present comorbidities related to age and increased cardiovascular risk, which may exacerbate the health status of infected individuals. In the absence of specific treatment for chronic CD it is important to adopt measures that aim at the control of these comorbidities and that favor the quality of life of these individuals.
