PREVALENCE OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES AND RISK-ASSESSMENT IN THE URBAN POPULATION OF PAKISTAN: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Background: Non-communicable diseases are on a rise, with a major shift of trend from communicable to non-communicable diseases, amongst which, cardiovascular diseases are noticed to be escalating. Objective: To investigate the prevalence of cardiovascular disease in Pakistan, as well as to observe frequently found risks factors and their association with CVD. Methods: Cross-sectional study including 150 participants. Data was obtained via a self-filled online questionnaire that included anthropometric measurements, past medical history, family history and personal history comprising of smoking and drug history, level of daily exercise, food preferences and stress levels. Results: 68.7% of the study population was female while 31.3% was male with the mean age of study participants being 30.30±13.01 years. Among 2.7% of the study population cardiovascular diseases were prevalent. Association of various risk factors with heart disease was present. Smokers (p=0.001), smokeless tobacco smokers (p=0.001), people with family history of heart disease (p=0.001), hypertensive (p=0.027), hypercholesterolemics (p=0.001) and people with higher age were shown to have an increased risk for cardiovascular disease compared with participants without heart disease. In addition to that, cardiovascular diseases were more prevalent in females with higher waist circumference (p=0.025). Conclusion: The study concluded that there was significant correlation between cardiovascular diseases and older age, positive family history and medical history like hypertension, high cholesterol levels, as well as an association with tobacco was present. This study not only observed the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases but it also looked into the risk factors commonly found and their correlation with cardiovascular diseases. Keywords: Non-communicable diseases, communicable diseases, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, hypercholesterolemics