Abstract

Background Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) continues to be the first cause of mortality globally. Effective preventive strategies require focused efforts to clarify ASCVD risk factors in different subgroups of a population. This study aimed to identify individuals at higher risk of ASCVD among Shiraz University employees to guide decision-making for primary prevention. Methods This cohort-based cross-sectional study was conducted on data of 1191 participants (25-70 years old) from Shiraz University employees selected by systematic random sampling. The 10-year ASCVD risk was calculated with an ASCVD risk score estimator developed by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA). To analyze the data, descriptive and chi-square tests were used. All statistical analyses were conducted using the SPSS version 16.0 software. The p-value < 0.05 was considered a significant level. Results This study demonstrated that 75.3 of the participants had low risk scores, whereas 13.2 and 2.5 of them had intermediate and high risk scores, respectively. Additionally, it revealed that among women 93.7, 2.7, and 0.6 had low intermediate and had high risk scores, respectively, whereas among men, 61.5, 21.1, and 3.9 had low intermediate and high risk scores, respectively. Based on the results of the chi-square test, men were significantly more prone to ASCVD (38.5) than women (6.3) were. Interestingly, 40.9 of known cases of hypertension had uncontrolled blood pressure, and 62.5 of individuals without any history of hypertension, who were considered new cases of hypertension, had abnormal blood pressure. Furthermore, 38.5 of diabetic patients and 1.6 of people who did not have a history of diabetes had abnormal serum fasting blood sugar. Conclusion It was revealed that nearly 15.7 of participants were at intermediate and high risk of developing ASCVD in the next 10 years with greater risk in men. Considerably, some of hypertensive and diabetic participants had uncontrolled blood pressure and blood sugar levels, respectively. New cases of diabetes and hypertension were also recognized in our study. Therefore, to address the primary prevention of ASCVD in this population, it is necessary to have plans for targeted interventions, which can be effective in modifying their risk factors.