High Cardiovascular Risk Profile in Adult Patients with Newly Diagnosed Diabetes in Haiti

Unpublished data collected by clinicians in Haiti have suggested that prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD) among Haitian adults with diabetes may be low despite a high prevalence of cerebrovascular events. To our knowledge, no epidemiologic study has been performed to confirm this. We evaluated the necessity to conduct a prospective study on the cardiovascular outcomes in this population by crosssectionally examining cardiovascular risk factors in Haitian adults aged 30-74 years with newly diagnosed diabetes. Our aim was to determine whether their baseline characteristics supported the assertion of low CHD prevalence, and estimate the 10-year absolute cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk of these patients.