Abdullah Adil Alshehri¹*, Mohammed Al-Eissa² and Mostafa Kofi³

¹Family Medicine Resident - PSMMC, Riyadh, SA
²Family Medicine Consultant - PSMMC, Riyadh, SA
³Professor, Family Medicine - PSMMC, Riyadh, SA

*Corresponding Author: Abdullah Adil Alshehri, Family Medicine Resident - PSMMC, Riyadh, SA.

Received: February 01, 2023; Published: February 16, 2023

Abstract

Background: The present study aimed to assess the level of awareness about metabolic syndrome among the general population in a major tertiary hospital in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study design was used, and data were collected from 318 participants attending primary healthcare centers over the course of one year. Convenience sampling was used to obtain the sample, and data were analyzed using SPSS software. The results showed that the majority of participants (67.6%) did not have sufficient knowledge about the definition of metabolic syndrome, while 29.2% believed it was caused by obesity and a sedentary lifestyle. Most participants were also unaware of normal blood pressure (15.7% aware) and fasting blood glucose levels (18.6% aware), and the majority did not know the appropriate waist circumference for their gender (49.7% and 53.8% unaware for males and females, respectively). These findings suggest that there is a need for improved education and awareness about metabolic syndrome in the general population. The chi-square test of association was used for inferential statistics, and a 95% confidence interval was set. The study received clearance from the IRB of the department of family medicine and authorization from the hospital.

Methodology: In this study, we will use a cross-sectional method to collect data from patients attending primary healthcare centers at the Primary Health Care Corporation (PSMMC) over the course of one year. The target population is patients who are 18 years old or older, and all patients attending these healthcare centers during the study period will be eligible to participate by completing a questionnaire.

Results: The study involved 318 participants of the general population in PSMMC primary healthcare centers. More than half (n = 172, 54.1%) of the population in the study were aged between 18-34 years old. 59.7% (190) of the respondents were male while 40.3% (128) were female. The majority (n = 234, 73.6%) were married. In terms of educational level, 46.9% (n = 149) of the study population had a bachelor's degree or higher followed by 42.5% (n = 135) who had been in high school. Because most of the participants had a bachelor's degree or higher this resulted in 57.9% (n = 184) of the participants being employed.

Conclusion: The results showed that the majority of participants had insufficient knowledge about metabolic syndrome and its common features, such as normal blood pressure, fasting blood glucose levels, and waist circumference. Most participants did not know the definition of metabolic syndrome and were unaware of normal blood pressure and fasting blood glucose levels. Additionally, a large portion of participants did not know the appropriate waist circumference for their gender. These findings suggest that there is a need for improved education and awareness about metabolic syndrome in the general population.

 Keywords: Metabolic Syndrome; Diabetes Mellitus; Cardiovascular Risk; Obesity; Hyperlipidemia

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Citation

Citation: Abdullah Adil Alshehri., et al. “Awareness about Metabolic Syndrome among the General Population in a Major Tertiary Hospital KSA”.Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 7.3 (2023): 136-144.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2022 Abdullah Adil Alshehri., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.