Hypertension or high blood pressure is the most common cardiovascular risk factor among Indians followed by diabetes, tobacco use and high cholesterol, a study of outpatient care in India has found.
Researchers used the American College of Cardiology's PINNACLE India Quality Improvement Programme registry to examine performance measures and outline areas for further improvement in cardiovascular care delivery.
"There is a growing burden of cardiovascular disease in India, but only limited data is available on the quality of outpatient care for patients with coronary artery disease, heart failure and atrial fibrillation," researchers said.
As the second most populous country in the world, India is experiencing an increase in the more traditional risk factors for coronary artery disease due to a rise in behavioural risk factors including tobacco use, physical inactivity and poor diet coupled with low levels of awareness, treatment and control of risk factors, they said.
Of the 68,196 patients from 10 cardiology outpatient departments included in the study, hypertension was present in nearly 30 per cent followed by other risk factors including diabetes, current tobacco use and high cholesterol.
"This paper demonstrates the high potential for the American College of Cardiology and the PINNACLE Registry to partner with cardiologists and help them improve the quality of outpatient cardiovascular care across the globe," said William Oetgen, ACC executive vice president of science, education and quality and one of the study authors.
The PINNACLE India Quality Improvement Programme is the first cardiovascular disease care data-collection and reporting programme implemented in the country.
The study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
