ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Ischemic heart disease is the first cause of death in the world in both genders between 30 and 40 years of age. It has been proposed that socioeconomic status could affect the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF), as well as cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality. The purpose of this work was to compare the frequency of CVRF in two groups of women with different educational level. RESULTS: A higher frequency of visceral obesity was identified in the women with lower educational level and hypo-HDL-C in the group of women with higher educational level. Correlation between age and modifiable CVRF was different between the studied groups. A larger proportion of women with higher educational level than those with lower educational level drank alcoholic beverages and smoked cigarettes. DISCUSSION: Frequency of identified modifiable CVRF was similar to that found in other Hispanic-American populations. The inverse relationship between CVRF and educational level, a commonly used measure of socioeconomic status, and prevalence of CVRF informed in English and American studies was not observed in this investigation; probably because social and cultural conditions could affect the educational level in a different manner. Health education programs must take into account the cultural processes of each country, city, or community, regardless of the socioeconomic status, based on social and cultural backgrounds of each group.