Prevalence of Risk Factors for Coronary Artery Disease in Southern Punjab, Pakistan

Purpose: To explore the prevalence of risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD) in Southern Punjab, Pakistan.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted for the prevalence of risk factors for CAD among 200 patients admitted at the different hospitals of Southern Punjab, Pakistan from December 2012 to April 2013. A questionnaire was used to collect data, including demographic information, family health history, dietary habits, physical activity and tobacco use. History of hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM) or its treatment was recorded after observing their medical reports.
Results: The proportion of females and males was 65.53 and 34.46 %, respectively. Of the 200 patients, the mean age of males was 52.7 years and 55.8 years for females. The most prevalent coronary artery risk factors were physical inactivity (52.5 %), hypertension (52 %), poor dietary habits (48.5 %), fatty food consumption (47.5 %), obesity (38 %) and smoking (37 %), respectively. Other less common risk factors were diabetes (30 %) and family history of CAD (20 %).
Conclusion: CAD was seen in only 20 % of the subjects; the prevalence of individual risk factors ranged from 30 to 52.5 % and can be improved by encouraging the patients to adopt a healthy life style.

Keywords
Risk factors; Prevalence; Coronary artery disease; Diabetes; Southern Punjab