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Journal of Public Health 2004 26(3):245-249; doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdh154
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Journal of Public Health 26(3) © Faculty of Public Health 2004; all rights reserved.

Prevalence and awareness of risk factors and behaviours of coronary heart disease in an urban population of Karachi, the largest city of Pakistan: a community survey



Sunita Dodani, Supercourse Faculty Member, Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Room 309, 3512, Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA

Rozina Mistry, Health Promotion Specialist and Manager, Health Promotion Resource Center, 4 and 5 Noorani Villa, Cruz Road, Garden East, Karachi, Pakistan

Aftab Khwaja, Program Officer, Health Promotion Resource Center, 4 and 5 Noorani Villa, Cruz Road, Garden East, Karachi, Pakistan

Muna Farooqi, Research Officer, 532 Pitt’s Lane, Apartment No. 13, Landon, Ontario N6G3K8, Canada

Riaz Qureshi, Professor and Chair, Department of Family Medicine, Aga Khan University Hospital, Stadium Road, PO Box 3500, Karachi 74800, Pakistan

Khawar Kazmi, Associate Professor and Head, Division of Cardiology, Aga Khan University Hospital, Stadium Road, PO Box 3500, Karachi 74800, Pakistan

Address correspondence to Dr Sunita Dodani. E-mail: sud9{at}pitt.edu

Objectives To estimate the prevalence and awareness of risk factors and risk behaviours of coronary heart disease (CHD) in the lower middle class residing in urban localities of Karachi, a mega city of Pakistan

Methods The design consisted of a cross-sectional community based survey in the lower middle class urban localities of Karimabad, Garden and Kharardar in Karachi, Pakistan. One thousand four hundred adults (18 years and above) registered with the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) participated in the survey. Life style, self-reported risk variables, blood pressure and anthropometric measurements were recorded.

Results Prevalence of hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes were 38.5, 10.7 and 9.1 per cent, respectively. 52.2 per cent of the sample was overweight or obese; 64.8 per cent never exercised; 11.9 per cent had two or more major risk factors of CHD.

Conclusion The communities studied showed a very high prevalence of hypertension, obesity and a sedentary life style. Despite a high literacy rate, awareness regarding CHD risk factors was low. This underlines the need for measures to increase awareness regarding CHD and its risk factors and a healthy lifestyle in the developing countries.

Keywords: developing countries, prevalence, coronary heart disease, hypertension, risk factors


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