title: Assessment of framingham cardiovascular disease risk among militaries in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To measure the risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) among militaries in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to assess their Framingham CVD risk.
  
  
  METHODS
  A nationwide survey included 10,500 active military personnel selected by multistage stratified random sampling representing various ranks in the army forces of 5 regions. The study used the World Health Organization STEPwise approach to chronic disease risk factor surveillance (STEPS) in the design of data collection tool. Data included demographic and health behavior information; physical assessment; and anthropometric, random blood glucose, serum cholesterol, and triglycerides measurements.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The response rate was 97.4%. The results showed that 9.1% of the sample population had 10% or higher Framingham 10-year office-based CVD risk score, with a mean of 4.5. The risk varied by region, armed force, crowding index, waist-hip ratio, total cholesterol, and triglycerides. Multivariate analysis identified crowding index, physical inactivity, and military rank as independent predictors, apart from Framingham predictors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of CVD risk factors is high among militaries in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with an associated high 10-year CVD Framingham risk. The military health services must implement intervention programs to reduce these risks, with follow-up of the participants with identified CVD risk.
authors.affiliation: Armed Forces Hospital, Western Region, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Salem
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Al-Dahi
authors.forename: Hesham
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Al-Khashan
authors.forename: Mohamed Abdullah Mashhour
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Al Madeer
authors.forename: Khaled
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Al-Saif
authors.forename: Mohamed Dhafer Salih
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Al-Amri
authors.forename: Othman
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Al-Ghamdi
authors.forename: Nabil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Al-Helali
authors.forename: Mohie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Selim
authors.forename: Adel Mounir
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Mishriky
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology