Risk factors for coronary heart disease among Lebanese women: a case-control study

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Private grant(s) and/or Sponsorship. Main funding source(s): Medilab SARL Backgroung Given the expected epidemic rise of coronary heart disease (CHD) in healthcare system and the potential severity of disease, CHD remains underestimated in women. Early identification of risk factors (RFs) will be important for their health promotion. Purpose The aim of this study is to evaluate the RFs for CHD among Lebanese women aged 40 years and above. Methods A case-control study was carried out in 6 hospitals in the regions of Beirut and Mount-Lebanon, from December 2018 to December 2019 with a total of 1500 patients. Anthropometric and laboratory data were collected from the medical records of patients and structured questionnaire were used. Results CHD was positively associated with hyperlipidemia (aOR 2.852, 95% CI: 2.021–4.023), hypertension (2.715, 1.598–4.614), family history of CHD (2.645, 1.925–3.634), smoking (1.888, 1.393–2.558) and interestingly presence of joint pain (1.513, 1.107–2.068). While, residence in Mount-Lebanon seemed negatively associated with CHD (0.669, 0.467–0.959), as well as adherence to Mediterranean diet (0.964, 0.938–0.992) and physical activity (0.491, 0.259–0.930 and 0.718, 0.530–0.972, for high and moderate activity, respectively). Conclusion In our study, most of RFs associated with CHD in women are modifiable and preventable, highlighting the need of lifestyle interventions and appropriate control strategies and measures.