Urbanization and cardiovascular health among Indigenous groups in Brazil

Background We described the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in groups of Brazilian Indigenous people at different degrees of urbanization. Methods The Project of Atherosclerosis among Indigenous populations (Projeto de Aterosclerose em Indígenas; PAI) is a cross-sectional study conducted in Northeast Brazil between August 2016–June 2017. It included three populations: Fulni-ô Indigenous people (lowest degree of urbanization), Truká Indigenous people (greater urbanization), and a highly urbanized non-Indigenous local cohort (control group). Participants were assessed to register sociodemographic, anthropometric, as well as clinical and laboratory-derived cardiovascular (CV) risk parameters. Age-adjusted prevalence of hypertension was also computed. Nonparametric tests were used for group comparisons. Results Here we included 999 participants, with a predominance of females in all three groups (68.3% Control group, 65.0% Fulni-ô indigenous group, and 60.1% Truká indigenous group). Obesity was present in 45.6% of the urban non-Indigenous population, 37.7% Truká and in 27.6% Fulni-ô participants. The prevalence of hypertension was 29.1% ( n = 297) with lower prevalence in the less urbanized Fulni-ô people (Fulni-ô – 18.2%; Truká – 33.9%; and Control – 33.8%; p