Abstract: Background: The mortality trends of coronary artery diseases (CAD) among women were increasing and despite the old stipulations that heart disease are men’s problems; and women are relatively immune against it; more women than men die as a result of heart disease. (CAD) risk among women is under-recognized and women usually do not perceive CAD as the greatest threat to their health. Misdiagnosis as a result of uniqueness of symptoms, and postmenopausal drop of estrogen level pose women at a higher risk for developing cardiovascular disease. There is paucity of studies on middle-aged women in low- and middle-income countries who are more likely to develop CAD and die from it in comparison to women in industrialized countries. Aim: To describe CAD risk profile and predict ten years coronary heart disease risk using global risk score among women in a rural community, Minia, Egypt. Method: Cross sectional community based study carried out in a rural area and included 124 women aged 35-75 years. An interview questionnaire included socio demographic data, history. Medical and lifestyle risk factors. BMI was calculated, blood pressure was measured. Fasting blood glucose and fasting lipid profile were carried out for each participant. Assessment of the ten years risk for developing heart disease using Framingham risk score was undertaken. Results: 124 rural women with mean of 51.69±10.49 year participated in the study. Nearly one -quarter (27.4%) of them were significantly having a high risk for developing coronary heart disease in the next ten years, and 40.3% of them was located in the intermediate risk zone. The most significant risk factors are diabetes (P=0.001), hypertension (P=0.001), smoking (P=0.001), physical inactivity (P=0.03) and dyslipidemia (0.001). Conclusion: Moderate –to- high risk score for coronary heart disease were prevalent among study participants. Obesity, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, smoking behavior and physical inactivity contribute significantly with a varying degrees to the global cardiac risk score which is found to be an alarm and useful tool for screening and early detection of those at risk in order to follow an intensive risk factor modification strategy. There is a need to increase awareness about modifiable risk factors of CHD among women.
Keywords: Women, Cardiac risk profile, scoring, hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol, obesity, BMI.
Title: Coronary Artery Disease Risk Among Middle-Aged Women, Minia, Egypt: An Epidemiological Study
Author: Eman Mohamed Mahfouz, Ebtesam Esmail Hassan, Nashaat Nabil kamal, Eman Fathi Abd Elrazik
International Journal of Healthcare Sciences
ISSN 2348-5728 (Online)
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