• L Salcedo Jódar, P Alcázar Carmona, J M Tenías Burillo, and R García Tejada.
• Gerencia de Atención Integrada La Mancha Centro, Servicio de Urgencias, Medicina Interna, Área de I.D.F., Alcázar de San Juan, Ciudad Real, España. Electronic address: lucasalcedo@hotmail.com.
• Semergen. 2014 Nov 1; 40 (8): 425-30.

IntroductionThe prevalence of aortic aneurysm (AAA) is reported to be 3.55%-4% in men over 65. But it is not known if this prevalence, resulting from ultrasound measurements made by Family Physicians, can be extrapolated to a rural population.ObjectiveTo estimate the prevalence of AAA in a rural population of males aged 65-80 years, using abdominal ultrasound by family physicians, and to identify its association with different cardiovascular risk factors.Subjects And MethodA cross sectional study was conducted that included males of 65-80 years (n=320) in a rural population of the province of Ciudad Real, Spain. The dependent variable was the presence or not of AAA using ultrasound measurements of the aorta. Those with a diameter greater than or equal to 3cm were considered positive. Explanatory variables were measured; ankle/brachial index (ABI), body mass index (BMI), medical history of high blood pressure (hypertension), diabetes mellitus (DM), dyslipidaemia (DLP), ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), and smoking habits. A bivariate and multivariate analysis of the prevalences was performed, as well as a study of the agreement between observers.ResultsThe prevalence of AAA in the population was 3.3% (95% CI: 1.1-5.5%. DM and DLP were significantly associated with AAA. The agreement between observers was 0.96 (95% CI; 0.91-0.98). The high prevalence of different cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) was particularly noteworthy.ConclusionsThe prevalence of AAA in 65-80 year-old males in a rural population is similar to that found in the literature. Due to the cross-sectional nature of the study, CVRFs such as hypertension or CVA were not associated with the AAA. A screening program for the early detection of AAA could be introduced into Primary Health Care by family physicians.Copyright © 2013 Sociedad Española de Médicos de Atención Primaria (SEMERGEN). Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

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