epidemiology of acute coronary syndrome in Oman. Results from the Oman-RACE study

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to evaluate the epidemiology and coronary risk factors of acute coronary syndrome [ACS] in Oman. Data were collected through a prospective, multinational, multicentre survey of consecutive patients, hospitalised over a 5-month period in 2007 with a diagnosis of ACS, in Yemen and five Arabian Gulf countries [Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates]. Here we present data of Omani patients aged >/= 20 years who received a provisional diagnosis of ACS and were consequently admitted to 14 different hospitals. There where 1,340 confirmed ACS episodes in 748 men and 592 women [median age 61 years]. The overall crude incidence rate of ACS was 338.9 per 100,000 person-years [P-Y]. The age-standardised rate [ASR] of ACS was 779 and 674 per 100,000 P-Y for men and women, respectively. The ASR male-to-female rate ratio was highest in the ST-elevation myocardial infarction [STEMI] group [2.26, 95% confidence interval [[CI], 1.63 to 3.15] followed by the non-STEMI [NSTEMI] group [1.68, 95% CI 1.28 to 2.21] and unstable angina [0.79, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.99]. Unstable angina accounted for 55%, STEMI for 26% and NSTEMI for 19% of ACS cases. Among the coronary risk factors, there was a high prevalence of hypertension [68%], diabetes mellitus [DM] [36%], hyperlipidaemia [63%], and overweight/obesity [65%], with a relatively low rate of current tobacco use [11%]. Our study confirms a high incidence of ACS in Omanis and supports the notion that the cardiovascular disease epidemic is also sweeping developing countries