PREVALENCIA DE FACTORES DE RIESGO PARA ENFERMEDADES CARDIOVASCULARES EN TUNJA, COLOMBIA. 2007

introduction: high frequencies of hospitalization and mortality by cardiovascular disease in the ips's of second and third level in tunja, deserve an analysis of the determinant risk factors. objective: to assess the prevalence of obesity, diabetes and hypertension in a representative sample of the population of tunja, colombia, and their possible association with social and demographic factors, depending on the geographic area of residence. methods: a cross-sectional analytic study was carried out. the sample comprised 499 subjects of both sexes, selected through stratified random sampling. it was applied an adapted version of the steps instrument, validated by who. results: we found high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, which are distributed in a polarized space mostly in the geographical extremes of growth of the city, associated with socio-economical and cultural factors and low income, low educational attainment and poor self-care ability.