Introduction: Risk factor differences among offspring of patients with premature coronary heart disease (CHD) have not been widely studiem.
Material and methods: We examined 161 persons from the region of Banja
Luka, including 81 children (mean age: 25.9 years, 45.7% female) with a history of CHD and a control group of 80 persons (mean age: 24.1, 50% female).
Medical history interviews and risk factor measurements were performed.
Results: There were differences in mean body amss index (BMI) (26.1 kg/
m2
vs. 23.1 kg/m2
, p < 0.0001), waist circumference (87.7 cm vs. 83.9 cm,
p = 0.002), hip circumference (99.3 cm vs. 95.84 cm, p < 0.002), systolic
blood pressure (BP) (128.09 mm Hg vs. 122.7 mm Hg, p = 0.007), and diastolic BP (99.3 mm Hg vs. 95.8 mm Hg, p = 0.07). Moreover, HDL-cholesterol
was significantly lower (1.1 mmol/l vs. 1.4 mmol/l, p = 0.0001), triglycerides
significantly higher (2.2 mmol/l vs. 1.6 mmol/l, p = 0.001), and TC/HDL-ratio
was significantly higher (5.1 vs. 4.0, p 1.0 mmol/l in men and 1.2 mmol/l in women
had a reduced odds (OR = 0.08, 95% CI: 0.02–0.34 of CHD as well as those
with change of fat type (OR = 0.26, 95% CI: 0.11–0.60).
Conclusions: Children of parents with premature CHD have a significantly
greater burden of CHD risk factors, with low HDL-C, in particular, being associated with an increased likelihood of being a child of a parent with premature CHD.