Risco cardiovascular em policiais do Batalhão de Operações Especiais (BOPE) e em policiais de unidades convencionais: uma análise comparativa transversal

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the main causes of death in the world and in Brazil, accounting for 30% of annual deaths. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in military police officers from the Special Operations Unit (BOPE) and in police officers from conventional units. A quantitative, observational cross-sectional study was carried out with 400 military police officers: BOPE (GI = 200) and conventional units (GII = 200) male, and that during the period of the research (August / 2017 to December / 2018), were effectively exercising police activity in the PMERJ Units. The variables analyzed were: age, weight, height, waist circumference, blood pressure, family history of coronary artery disease (CAD), alcoholism, physical inactivity, smoking, laboratory tests and self- perceived stress. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive analysis of the data was performed. Student's t test was used for continuous variables and the chi-square test for categorical variables. The level of significance was set at 5%. The results found were: prevalent age group between 35-44 years of age, in both groups, with a larger number in GII (70.6%). The percentages of physical inactivity were 17.6% and 17.9%, respectively in Groups I and II. The percentages of alcoholism were 11.6% in BOPE and 6.0% in conventional units. The percentage of active smokers was 19.1% in Group I and 54.2% in Group II. As for family history for CAD, GI reported 25.6% and GII, 21.4%, with no statistically significant difference (p=0.34). There was a significant difference in the variables: height and cholesterol (p=0.01) and waist circumference (p=0.02) between the groups studied. Regarding arterial hypertension, only 10.8% were hypertensive, 15.1% from Group I and 6.5% from Group II. The percentage of diabetes was 1.5% in GI and 4.5% in GII. In Group I, higher values of total cholesterol were observed (mean ± SD = 229.69 ± 36.50 mg/dL) compared to Group II (mean ± SD = 209.69 ± 32.78 mg/dL). Regarding self-perceived stress, both groups referred to as moderate stress (GI - 42.7% and GII - 43.8%). The Framingham score showed that only 1.3% (1.0% in GI and 1.5% in GII) of the individuals analyzed were at high risk, 11.5% at intermediate risk (13.1% in GI and 10,0% in GII) and 87.3% at low risk (85.9% in GI and 88.6% in GII), with no significant difference (p=0.57). In conclusion: cardiovascular risk factors: alcoholism, physical inactivity, smoking, overweight, high blood pressure, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, stress, family history of CAD and use of steroids and anabolic steroids were prevalent in both groups. The following factors were more prevalent in BOPE: alcoholism, total cholesterol, waist circumference and arterial hypertension than in Group II. Only smoking was more prevalent in GII. There was no difference between the groups regarding self-perceived stress, both self-reported moderate stress. The risk of developing CAD in 10 years, according to the Framingham score, was low in both groups.