Prevalence of coronary risk factors: fisherman vs non-fisherman in Tumpat Kelantan

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was conducted amongst 223 subjects consisting of 176 fishermen and 51 non-fishermen in Tumpat Kelantan. The objective was to compare the prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors between them. Questionnaires were used to obtain the socio-economic status whilst clinical assessments were carried out to determine the nutritional and health status of the population. It was found that fishermen had lower socio- economic status as compared to non-fisherman. Prevalence of poverty among fishermen was 71.4% and 36.8% had no formal education. Three main coronary heart disease risk factors found to be high were smoking (76%), HDL-cholesterol < 35mg/dl (95.8%) and hypertension (28.8%). The preva­lence of risk factors were higher among fishermen as compared to non­fisherman. Calories and nutrients intake were low in the two groups. Calorie and protein intake for fishermen were lower (p<0.05) compared to non­fishermen. The study showed that 46.6% fishermen had two CHD risk factors and 24.1% had three or more as compared to non-fishermen (33.3% and 33.3% respectively). Only 8.3% fishermen and 15.2% non fishermen did not have any risk factor. There was a significant difference (p<0.05) in number of risk factors according to age group. This study indicated that fishermen have a potential to develop coronary heart diseases thus preventive meas­ures should be instituted as soon as possible in order to alleviate those problems.