Data from: Two tales of cardiovascular risks-middle-aged women living in Sweden and Scotland: a cross-sectional comparative study

Objectives: To compare cardiovascular risk factors as well as rates of
cardiovascular diseases in middle-aged women from urban areas in Scotland
and Sweden. Design: Comparative cross-sectional study. Setting: Data from
the general population in urban areas of Scotland and the general
population in two major Swedish cities in southeast Sweden, south of
Stockholm. Participants: Comparable data of middle-aged women (40–65
years) from the Scottish Health Survey (n=6250) and the Swedish QWIN study
(n=741) were merged together into a new dataset (n=6991 participants).
Main outcome measure: We compared middle-aged women in urban areas in
Sweden and Scotland regarding risk factors for cardiovascular disease
(CVD), CVD diagnosis, anthropometrics, psychological distress and
lifestyle. Results: In almost all measurements, there were significant
differences between the countries, favouring the Swedish women. Scottish
women demonstrated a higher frequency of alcohol consumption, smoking,
obesity, low vegetable consumption, a sedentary lifestyle and also more
psychological distress. For doctor-diagnosed coronary heart disease, there
were also significant differences, with a higher prevalence among the
Scottish women. Conclusions: This is one of the first studies that clearly
shows that Scottish middle-aged women are particularly affected by a worse
profile of CVD risks. The profound differences in CVD risk and outcome
frequency in the two populations are likely to have arisen from
differences in the two groups of women's social, cultural, political
and economic environments.