Profile of Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factors Among Employees at a Saudi University

Abstract

Background: There is paucity of studies defining the prevalence of non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors in Saudi Arabia despite the surging epidemic of obesity, change in dietary habits and sedentary lifestyle. Objectives: This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the prevalence of NCDs risk factors among employees at King Faisal University in Al Hassa, Saudi Arabia and to determine the possible correlates for clustering of NCDs risk factors among them. Materials and Methods: All employees were invited to participate; the World Health Organization STEPwise approach was used for data collection which consisted of a personal interview to collect socio-demographic characteristics, NCD history, tobacco use, vegetables and fruit consumption, and physical activity (PA), followed by anthropometric measurements namely weight, height and waist circumference and blood pressure measurements, subjects were finally subjected to biochemical tests with determination of fasting plasma glucose, serum triglycerides, cholesterol and high density lipoproteins. Results: Of the surveyed employees (n=691), daily current smokers accounted for 22.7%. 94.9%, 95.1% and 86% consumed < 5 servings per day of vegetables, fruits and both fruits and vegetables respectively, 73% were physically inactive, 64% were overweight or obese, 22.1% had hypertension, and 21.5% were diabetics. Elevated cholesterol levels were found in 36.6%, low high density lipoproteins in 36.8%, and elevated triglycerides in 36.1%. Only 3% had no NCD risk factors, and 57.6% had ≥3 factors. Multivariate logistic regression showed that gender (being male, adjusted odds ratio 'aOR'=1.51), aged ≥ 50 years (aOR=3.06), < college education (aOR=1.75), current smokers (aOR=2.37), being obese (aOR=6.96) and having a low PA level (aOR=4.59) were the significant positive predictors for clustering of NCD risk factors. Conclusions: Over fifty percent of the studied university's employees had multiple (≥3) NCD risk factors. Screening and health promotion initiatives should be launched at least targeting the modifiable factors to avert the excessive risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and several types of cancers.

Diabetes Mellitus and Its Associated Risk Factors among adult Population in Bisha Province, Southwest of Saudi Arabia

“…According to our findings, increasing age was an important risk factor associated with DM in Bisha province, which is in agreement with other reports from other parts of Saudi Arabia (Al Hayek et al, 2014;Amin et al, 2014;Murad et al, 2014) and neighboring countries (Ahmed et al, 2013;Ali, Mehrass, Al-Adhroey, Al-Shammakh & Amran, 2016). Ammarasinghe et al (2015) proposed that geriatric changes in the body systems might invariably contribute to this association.…”

“…Moreover, with increasing age, adipose deposition could be increased which might lead to insulin resistance and increasing rates of blood glucose and blood pressure (Amarasinghe et al, 2015). In consistent with other studies in Saudi Arabia (Al-Nozha et al, 2004;Al Hayek et al, 2014;Amin et al, 2014) and in many parts of the world (Soegondo et al, 2011;Soriguer, et al, 2012;Xia et al, 2013;Akter et al, 2014;Amarasinghe et al, 2015), our report revealed that individuals with high body weight were more likely to develop diabetes. Excess body fat well documented as being a risk factor for various chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular diseases (Kamadjeu et al, 2006).…”

“…The prevalence of hypertension, a major risk factor for diabetic is also in high rates recorded in previous studies in Saudi Arabia (Al-Ghamdi et al, 2007;Amin et al, 2014). In the present study, our result revealed that hypertension is the strongest risk factor associated with DM (OR 4.383; 95% CI 2.085-9.214).…”

“…Excess body fat well documented as being a risk factor for various chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular diseases (Kamadjeu et al, 2006). The stability of economic and technological progress in oil producing countries such as Saudi Arabia has been reported as promoting factor for obesity (Ginter & Simko, 2012;Amin et al, 2014). A study in Saudi Arabia has shown that changes in food consumption towards a high-energy-density with fattiest food with a decline in the intake of fruit, vegetables also have a significant role of overweight and diabetes (Midhet et al, 2010).…”

Hazardous Health Behaviour among Medical Students: a Study from Turkey

“…Sedantary young people are at risk of obesity, hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart diseases and some types of cancer (Nacar et al, 2014, Amin et al, 2014). In the current study, 64.0% of the students did not perform physical activity lasting at least 30 minutes for five times a week.…”