Cardiovascular disease risk profile among young Saudi women of Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study
Abstract
Study Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the level of risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) among young Saudi women living in Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia.
Methods: As part of “The Heart Protection Campaign†in the Al-Qassim region, data were collected from Saudi women using questionnaires as well as objective measurement of height, weight, blood pressure, and blood glucose. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.
Results: Only 15% of the sample were free of risk factors, the majority had either one (57.5%) or two (20.8%) risk factors. Additionally, 6.7% were considered to be at high-risk with three or more risk factors. The most common risk factors were physical inactivity (74%) and overweight/obesity, (25% / 29%). There was a significant increase in the number of risk factors across age groups. Women over the age of 30 were more likely to have a higher number of risk factors than the younger women (20-24 years).
Conclusions: Young women in Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia have an unusually high risk for CVD. Since the number of risk factors increases substantially between the ages of 20 and 35, there is a need to develop prevention programs to lower the CVD risk through diet and exercise.
Keywords:cardiovascular risk factors, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obesity, young women, Saudi Arabia.
Â
Keywords:
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).