Aim: To estimate the prevalence of selected behavioral risk factors for cardiovascular and related diseases in western, central, and eastern region of Slovenia and to determine interregional differences.
Methods: A national survey on health status and health behavior of the adult population included 15,379 Slovene inhabitants, aged 25 to 64. The overall response rate to a mailed questionnaire was almost 64%, and 9,043 questionnaires were eligible for analysis. Prevalence rates per 100 population (smoking, nutrition, alcohol intake, physical activity, stress) were determined, chi-square test was used for global assessment of interregional differences, and logistic regression for adjusting them for sex and age.
Results: Interregional differences in prevalence were observed in very unhealthy nutrition related to obesity and diabetes (west: 34.0, center: 30.6, east: 41.8; p<0.001), very unhealthy nutrition related to hypertension (west: 25.5, center: 29.4, east: 28.4; p=0.011), very unhealthy nutrition related to atherosclerosis-based diseases (angina pectoris, myocardial and brain infarction, etc.) (west: 33.1, center: 31.8, east: 44.1; p<0.001), heavy alcohol drinking (west: 11.2, center: 12.0, east: 15.2; p<0.001), and physical inactivity (west: 18.0, center: 21.0, east: 15.3; p<0.001), but not in smoking (west: 22.4, center: 24.5, east: 23.9; p=0.230) or stress (west: 23.2, center: 24.4, east: 24.7; p=0.388).
Conclusion: We confirmed significant interregional differences in the prevalence of most observed behavioral risk factors. In behaviors with statistically significant interregional differences, the highest prevalence was confirmed for eastern Slovenia.