Prevalence of risk factors for coronary artery disease in the community in eastern Nepal--a pilot study

Coronary artery disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Nepal, however, there are very few published reports of prevalence of various risk factors for coronary artery disease in the community from Nepal.

We evaluated 140 adult subjects by simple randomization from all wards in the community in Dharan, a small city located in the foothills in eastern Nepal. After exclusion of subjects with insufficient data, 119 subjects were included for the final analysis. Age ranged from 35 to 86 (mean 54.1+ 10.5) years and there were 63 males and 56 females. Various parameters which were studied included :history of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coronary artery disease, smoking, hereditary history, family history, measurement of blood pressure, anthropometric parameters such as body mass index and waist hip ratio and biochemical parameters such as random blood sugar and serum cholesterol.

The prevalence of various risk factors for coronary artery disease was found to be: hypertension 42 (35.3%), diabetes mellitus--19 (15.9%), history of current smoking--46 (38.7%), hypercholesterolemia--15 (12.6%), sedentary life style 56 (47.1%), body mass index>25 kg/m2--40 (33.6%) and central obesity 50 (42.1%). Approximately one third of the subjects had more than one risk factor.

The study highlights prevalence of various risk factors for coronary artery disease in the community. Since majorly of the risk factors are modifiable, timely intervention can help in reducing morbidity and mortality due to this disease.