Risco para doenças cardiovasculares em mulheres detentas

Abstract

Objective: To delineate the anthropometric profile and to evaluate the presence of risk factors for the development of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in women in prison. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, quantitative, and analytical study, conducted in a closed prison system in one capital of northeastern Brazil, in which 64 women prisoners participated. Data were collected from a structured interview about women s profile and food consumption, and anthropometric measurements were taken: weight, height, arm circumference (AC), waist circumference (WC) and hip circumference (HC). Results: The women prisoners were young and single adults with low education. The most commonly reported diseases were: hypertension, coronary insufficiency, and diabetes. The frequency of overweight or obesity was 33.3% (n = 13) and 56.0% (n = 14) in the age groups up to 30 years (G1) and over 30 years (G2), respectively. Regarding risk, considering WC, 3.3% (n=6) and 40.0% (n=10) presented a very high risk of metabolic complications associated with obesity in groups G1 and G2, respectively. In the assessment of waist / hip circumference ratio, it was found that 94.9% (n = 37) (G1) and 72.0% (n = 18) (G2) did not present high risk (p = 0.022). Conclusion: The high age women prisoners group, aged over 30 years, presented higher values of mean waist circumference, but not at high risk (waist circumference/hip ratio), despite the high consumption of unhealthy foods.