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.研究目的：比较苏格兰与瑞典城市地区中年女性的心血管疾病（CVD）危险因素及心血管疾病患病率。 研究设计：对比性横断面研究。 研究现场：数据来源于苏格兰城市地区的普通人群，以及瑞典东南部、斯德哥尔摩以南两座主要城市的普通人群。 研究对象：将苏格兰健康调查（Scottish Health Survey，n=6250）与瑞典QWIN研究（n=741）中40~65岁中年女性的可比数据合并，构建了包含6991名参与者的新数据集。 主要结局指标：本研究对比了瑞典与苏格兰城市地区中年女性的心血管疾病（CVD）危险因素、CVD诊断情况、人体测量学指标、心理困扰及生活方式。 研究结果：在几乎所有观测指标中，两国女性均存在显著差异，瑞典女性的整体情况更优。苏格兰女性的饮酒频率、吸烟率、肥胖率、蔬菜摄入不足比例、久坐不动的生活方式比例及心理困扰发生率均更高。在医生确诊的冠心病（coronary heart disease）患病率方面，两国同样存在显著差异，苏格兰女性的冠心病患病率更高。 研究结论：本研究是首批明确证实苏格兰中年女性面临更糟糕的心血管疾病危险因素谱的研究之一。两国人群在CVD风险及疾病结局发生率上的显著差异，可能源于两组女性所处的社会、文化、政治及经济环境差异。