Abstract

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a major and growing public health problem across the world for both males and females in all ethnic groups. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the causes and associated risk factors of HF patients in Aljouf, Saudi Arabia.
Methodology: Total 274 consecutive patients including 165 males and 109 females who were diagnosed with HF and admitted to Cardiac center of King Abdul Aziz Specialized Hospital (KAASH) over a period of January 2019 to December 2019, were enrolled in this retrospective study. All information was collected from the hospital records including medical history, age, causative factors and associated risk factors.
Result: It was found that majority of female (31.1%) and male (45.4%) HF patients were over 65 years of age and between 55 to 64 years, respectively. The common causes were ischemic heart diseases (47.4%), hypertensive heart disease (30.2%), and dilated cardiomyopathy (22.2%) among HF patients. Furthermore, risk factors included diabetes (88%) and obesity (80.7%) which were higher in female as compared to males (p < 0.05). Besides, the family history of coronary artery disease and cardiovascular diseases (71.5%), and hypertension (32.7%) were significantly higher in male HF patients than female HF patients (p < 0.05). Smoking (58.39%) was considered as a major risk factor for male HF patient.
Conclusion: The HF patient’s incidence as well as its complications might be reduced remarkably by early prevention with proper management of its associated risk factors and major causes.

Key words: Heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, causes, risk factors