Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Rates of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) have declined overall in the past two decades, but these improvements have not been shared by young patients, especially, young females, for whom rates of CVD are stable or increasing. An improved understanding of characteristics, risk factors, and outcomes of young individuals with CVD is needed to improve strategies to screen for, prevent and treat disease in this group. The goal of this study was to assess the prevalence and temporal trends of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) and mortality rates among a contemporary population of young patients presenting with CVD in British Columbia (BC). Methods We used a provincial BC clinical cardiac registry to identify young adults (males < 50 years, females < 55 years) with the first presentation of CVD between 2000 and 2016. CVRFs, comorbidities at the time of the first presentation, sex-related differences, temporal trends, and mortality were investigated. Results We identified 12,519 adults (30% females) who met our inclusion criteria. The incidence rate remained stable for both sexes during the period studied. Ninety percent of patients had at least one CVRF, hyperlipidemia was the most common factor (47%), followed by smoking (43%) and hypertension (43%). Many patients had multiple CVRFs. Females were more likely to have diabetes, hypertension, and obesity than males. The prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, and obesity increased significantly over 16 years. Mortality rate was higher for females over the study period. Conclusion The prevalence of very premature CVD did not decrease between 2000 and 2016 in BC. Moreover, rates of specific CVRFs, including diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, increased in this population. Our results provide insight into the characteristics of contemporary patients with very premature CVD in BC, with implications for approaches to screening, prevention, and treatment in this population.