The incidence of heart attacks among young individuals in Mosul City

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Rapid socioeconomic progress has greatly affected the world, and the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) has increased. The growing burden of CVDs has become a major public health issue. The study aimed to identify the main risk factors that lead to the contribution of heart attacks among young people in Mosul City, Iraq. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was dependent on achieving the objectives through a descriptive study design that was performed in the emergency medical wards of three teaching hospitals in Mosul City, Iraq. The sample was the convenience of patients who were admitted to the emergency department and who had signs and symptoms of heart attacks during the period of data collection starting from November 1, 2022, until April 1, 2023. The participants were 247 cases recorded during that period, and their ages ranged between 20 and 45 years. The tool used in this study from the World Health Organization (WHO) is related to risk factors for CVDs and consists of eleven items. RESULTS: Approximately seventy percent of the study sample was male, 68.4% were less than 39 years, and 35.6% of them were diagnosed with heart diseases (angina and myocardial infarction) that require hospitalization, and there are several risk factors in the study sample, the most prominent of which were physical inactivity (88.6%), following unhealthy diet patterns (87.5%) and hypertension (69.3%). CONCLUSION: The study concluded that the risky health factors that contribute to the occurrence of heart attacks among young people in this study are hypertension, high blood cholesterol, unhealthy diet, heavy smoking, stress, family history, alcohol drinking, obesity, and diabetes mellitus (DB).