The epidemiology of acute coronary syndrome in Oman : results from the Oman-race study

Abstract EN

Objectives : this study aimed to evaluate the epidemiology and coronary risk factors of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in Oman.

Methods : 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.

Results : 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 (36 %), and overweight / obesity (65 %), with a relatively low rate of current tobacco use (11 %).

Conclusion : our study confirms a high incidence of ACS in Omanis and supports the notion that the cardiovascular disease epidemic is also sweeping developing countries.