Clustering of cardiovascular disease biological risk factors among older adults in Shenzhen City, China: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: Few studies reported the clustering of cardiovascular disease (CVD) biological risk factors among older adults. The objective of this study was to characterise the clustering of CVD biological risk factors among adults aged 65 or older in Shenzhen city, China. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: General communities in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. PARTICIPANTS: A representative sample of 5635 participants aged 65 or older participated in the survey with a response rate of 93.6%. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Individual CVD biological risk factors (overweight/obesity, central obesity, hypertension, dyslipidaemia and diabetes) and their clustering. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight, obesity, central obesity, hypertension, dyslipidaemia and diabetes in this study was 37.4%, 10.8%, 37.0%, 51.9%, 40.2% and 18.0%, respectively. The mean count of CVD biological risk factors per participant was 1.95. The 86.0% of the participants presented at least one CVD biological risk factor and 33.8% of the participants presented clustering of CVD biological risk factors, that is, presenting three or more CVD biological risk factors, as defined in this study. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that gender, age, and drinking and smoking status were significantly associated with clustering of CVD biological risk factors (P<0.05). Women, the older and alcohol drinkers were more likely to have clustering of CVD biological risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of CVD biological risk factors is fairly high in the older adults with a tendency of clustering in Shenzhen. The findings highlight the need for integrated management of CVD biological risk factors among older adults.