Cardiac Sciences Department, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
East Mediterr Health J. 2018 Mar 5;23(12):836-844. doi: 10.26719/2017.23.12.836.
The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of living in Saudi Arabia on expatriate employees and their families' behavioural cardiovascular risk factors (BCVRFs), and to examine the association between changes in BCVRFs and metabolic syndrome (MetS). A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1437 individuals, aged ≥ 18 years, from King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We used the World Health Organization STEPS questionnaire to ask every participant questions about BCVRFs twice: (1) to reflect their period of living in Saudi Arabia and (2) to shed light upon life in their country of origin. Their mean age was 40.9 (11.7) years. The prevalence of BCVRFs was as follows: tobacco use in 156 (11%), physical inactivity in 1049 (73%) low intake of fruit and vegetables in 1264 (88%) and MetS in 378 (26%). Residing in Saudi Arabia had reduced physical activity and intake of fruit and vegetables. There was also a significant increase in the fast food consumption. In conclusion, living in Saudi Arabia had a significant negative effect on BCVRFs. However, there was no statistically significant association between changes in fruit and vegetable intake and physical activity and MetS status, except that intake of fast food was lower among participants with MetS.
本文旨在评估在沙特阿拉伯生活对侨民员工及其家属行为心血管风险因素（BCVRFs）的影响，并探讨 BCVRFs 变化与代谢综合征（MetS）之间的关联。在沙特阿拉伯利雅得的沙特国王大学对 1437 名年龄≥18 岁的个体进行了横断面研究。我们使用世界卫生组织 STEPS 问卷两次询问每位参与者有关 BCVRFs 的问题：（1）反映他们在沙特阿拉伯的居住期间，（2）阐明他们在原籍国的生活。他们的平均年龄为 40.9（11.7）岁。BCVRFs 的患病率如下：156 人（11%）吸烟，1049 人（73%）身体活动不足，1264 人（88%）水果和蔬菜摄入量低，378 人（26%）代谢综合征。居住在沙特阿拉伯会减少身体活动和水果及蔬菜的摄入。快餐消费也显著增加。总之，在沙特阿拉伯生活对 BCVRFs 有显著的负面影响。然而，水果和蔬菜摄入量以及体力活动与 MetS 状态之间的变化没有统计学上的显著关联，除了代谢综合征患者的快餐摄入量较低。
