Vascular Health and Risk Management (Aug 2023)

Unconventional Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Systematic Coronary Risk Estimation (SCORE) in the Lebanese Rural Population: The Forgotten Factors

  • Gebara N,
  • Abdel-Massih T,
  • Sahakian JP,
  • Sleilaty G,
  • Bazzi M,
  • Ashoush R,
  • Jebara V,
  • Habib J

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 19
pp. 507 – 517

Abstract

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Nicole Gebara,1 Tony Abdel-Massih,2 Jean-Paul Sahakian,2 Ghassan Sleilaty,3 Mariam Bazzi,4 Ramzi Ashoush,3 Victor Jebara,3 Jad Habib1 1Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon; 2Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon; 3Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon; 4Higher Institute of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, LebanonCorrespondence: Nicole Gebara, Email [email protected]: To evaluate the correlation between unconventional risk factors and the Systematic Coronary Risk Estimation (SCORE), and estimate the prevalence of conventional and unconventional cardiovascular (CV) risk factors in the rural Lebanese population in order to assess their CV risk.Methods: This is a retrospective descriptive study conducted between November 2017 and June 2019 among the Lebanese rural population. The risk factors were analyzed from the files of the patients who presented for the CV disease screening days organized by a non governmental organization. The CV risk estimation tool is the SCORE. The classification of socio-economic level ranges from zero (low level) to 3 (high level).Results: A total of 433 patients were included. The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, smoking, and metabolic syndrome was 45.1%, 31.2%, 39.2%, 50% and 42.9% respectively. Only 13.6% of hypertensive patients and 6.7% of diabetics were controlled. A total of 0 or 1 point for the classification of socio-economic status was found in 62.6% of cases. A family history of CV diseases was present in 87.3% of participants. The SCORE was correlated with diabetes and metabolic syndrome (p = 0.000), without being correlated to socio-economic status (HR = − 0.104; p = 0.059) or to family history (p = 0.834).Conclusion: The socio-economic status and the family history of CV disease must be evaluated in addition to the classical risk calculation of the SCORE to better pinpoint the actual risk of the targeted population. The risk factors are prevalent but poorly controlled, hence the need for a national effort to ensure better care for the rural Lebanese population.Keywords: screening, cardiovascular disease, conventional risk factors, unconventional risk factors, SCORE, Lebanon

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