Journal international de recherche cardiovasculaire

Risk Factors of Coronary Artery Disease among Male Teachers in Saudi Arabia, Almadinah City

Faisal O Alatawi

Objective: Coronary artery disease (CAD) has become a global epidemic affecting all occupation. Teachers are suspected to be at occupation stress; however the risk of developing CAD among them is not studied in Saudi Arabia. This study was conducted to investigate the current situation of CAD and prevalence of its risk factors among school teachers in Almadinah Almunawwarah. The findings will help in understanding the extent of the problem of CAD and its risk it poses among school teachers in KSA.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted during the academic year 2015 in Almadinah Almunawwarah city. A sample of 210 teachers was randomly selected out of 10,341 Saudi male teachers following a common cluster-sampling scheme (30 schools × 7 teachers). Data included CAD, and its classical risk factors were collected from participating teachers at their schools in a specially designed questionnaire by a trained paramedic. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was done to identify associated risk factors.

Results: The prevalence of CAD among school teachers in this study was 6.7%. Prevalence of diabetes (30%), obesity (43.8%), hypertension 37.7%, and hyperlipidemia 27.6% was higher. Multivariate regression model shows, the risk of CAD was 6 times higher among obese and it increases by 2 times with addition of one risk factor. To explore the current situation of CAD and the prevalence of its risk factors among school teachers in Almadinah Almunawwarah.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated a high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors among Saudi male teachers. Promotion of healthy life styles by physical activities, healthy diet and keeping schools free from smoking could be useful.