Background: The prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors is expected to rise in Saudi Arabia as the prevalence of CVD risk factors rises. Effective primary CVD prevention necessitates risk assessment to categorize patients and select the most appropriate intervention for each category.
Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of CVD at primary healthcare (PHC) in Riyadh city and to categorize the at-risk population as a slow, intermediate, or high risk of CVD.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out at seven PHC centers in Riyadh. Seven hundred participants (half of whom were males and the other half females) were selected at random from PHCs visitors, and data was collected using a structured questionnaire, as well as required measurements and laboratory investigations. The World Health Organization risk prediction charts were used to calculate CVD risk. Participants were assigned to one of three CVD risk categories (low, intermediate, high).
Results: Obesity was found to be the most common risk factor found in this study (53.2%). Overweight (31.2%), with females having higher BMI levels. The study found that 83.4% of participants had low CVD risk, 12.9% had intermediate risk, and 3.7% had high CVD risk category. Age, systolic blood pressure, cholesterol level, smoking, and prior diagnosis of diabetes were all statistically significant predictors of moderate and high CVD risk.
Conclusion: CVD risk factors were discovered to be common among study participants. It requires healthcare decision-makers to engage in community-based interventions to decrease the risk of CVD.
Keywords: cardio vascular disease; cholesterol; hypertension; obesity; smoking; types 2 diabetes.
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