Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors with Stratification of Ten-Year Total Cardiovascular Risk Among the Working Adults in Brunei Darussalam.

SSL Chiew¹, NAA Tuah^{1, 2, 3}, ASC Lai^{1, 4}, A Yazdi ³, A Majeed³, Z Wint¹

¹PAPRSB Institute of Health Sciences and ²Centre for Advanced Research, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam, ³Department of Primary Care and Public Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, United Kingdom, and ⁴Occupational Health Division, Ministry of Health, Brunei Darussalam.

ABSTRACT

Background: Globally, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are rising and Brunei Darussalam is no exception to the trend. However, information regarding CVD risk factors and cardiovascular risk assessment are limited particularly among the working adults. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate the prevalence of CVD risk factors with stratification of 10-year total cardiovascular risk among the working adults in Brunei Darussalam. Methods: This retrospective, cross-sectional analysis included data from a randomly selected sample of 1375 subjects aged 40-60 years from the Occupational Health Division, Ministry of Health Brunei Darussalam between 2010-2014. Prevalence of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors was determined and the ten-year cardiovascular risk of the subjects was calculated using the WHO/ISH risk prediction charts. Results: The prevalence of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, obesity, smoking and diabetes was 49%, 36%, 26%, 21% and 18% respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed three models were statistically significant: age with smoking and hypercholesterolemia (p=0.002 and p=0.038); gender with smoking, hypercholesterolemia and obesity (p=0.046, p<0.001 and p=0.013); and Malay ethnicity with smoking, hypercholesterolemia and obesity (p<0.001, p=0.005 and p<0.001). After adjusting for age and gender, males were 3.37 times more likely to smoke and 1.62 times more likely to have hypercholesterolemia, while females were 2.85 times more likely to be obese. The WHO/ISH risk prediction charts identified two percent of the study population as having moderate and high risks of developing CVD events in ten years. Conclusion: This study indicated high prevalence of modifiable CVD risk factors particularly hypercholesterolemia and obesity among this working population which suggests routine screening with implementation of healthy lifestyle modification programmes are warranted.

Keywords: Cardiovascular disease risk factors, Hypertension, Smoking, Obesity, Hypercholesterolemia, Diabetes, Cardiovascular risk assessment

Correspondence: Sally SL Chiew, BHSc MPH, PAPRSB Institute of Health Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Jalan Tungku Link, Gadong BE1410, Brunei Darussalam. Tel: +673 8127803. Email: sallychong7803@gmail.com

Brunei Int Med J. 2017; 13 (5): 148-156