Abstract

Background: The prevalence of the coronary artery disease (CAD) is increasing in the developing countries, including Saudi Arabia. The aim of this study was to evaluate knowledge of CAD risk factors and to appraise the related attitude and practice among the general population of Tabuk city, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on a random sample of Tabuk city population. Each participant responded to a questionnaire paper requesting information about his personal details, knowledge about the CAD risk factors, his attitude, and his actual practice towards the risk factors. Study permission was obtained from the Research Committee (Faculty of Medicine/ University of Tabuk). Informed consents were obtained from the participants before entry into the study. The collected data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL), version 20. Statistical significance was accepted when P value is less than 0.05. Results: A total of 126 adult subjects (69.84% males) participated in this study. Of the participants, 71.42% received university education, 2.4% had a past history of heart attack, 3.2% were known cases of diabetes mellitus, and 6.3% were known cases of hypertension. The commonest risk factors identified by the participants were smoking (81%). Those who could identify hypertension, obesity, smoking and diabetes mellitus were 65.9%, 77.8%, 81.0%, and 37.3% respectively. Less than two thirds (64.3%) of individuals could identify stress as a risk factor, and less than half (44.4%) could identify the genetic tendency as a risk factor of CAD. The majority of participants (72.2%) know that lack of exercise or the sedentary life style is a risk factor for CAD; however, only 8.16% were fully aware of the principal five modifiable risk factors of heart disease. Conclusion: The study showed critical deficiencies in CAD risk factors knowledge and perception that could result in underestimation of the disease severity. Educational health programs are highly recommended to increase awareness about the modifiable risk factors of the CAD.

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