Association between triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol ratio and cardiovascular risk factors among elderly persons receiving care under the family health strategy of Viçosa, Minas Gerais

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the association between triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol (TG/HDL-c) ratio and cardiovascular risk factors among the elderly. Method: A cross-sectional epidemiological study with a random sample of elderly persons (n=349) of both genders, who received care under the Family Health Strategy in the municipality of Viçosa, in the state of Minas Gerais, was performed. Cardiovascular risk was calculated by the relationship between the TG and the HDL-c levels, with values greater than 3.5 considered a risk. Social and economic variables, lifestyle, noncommunicable chronic diseases, serum glucose levels, waist circumference (WC) and body mass index were evaluated. Multiple linear regression was used to evaluate the association between the TG/HDL-c ratio and other variables. Variables associated with the dependent variable with a level of significance lower than 0.20 in univariate regression analysis were included in the final model (stepwise-forward), applying a significance level of p