English abstract
Background: A striking feature of patients with cardiovascular disease is recurrent
cardiovascular events.Previous studies found that the disease recurrence is linked to
the job strain, C-Reactive Protein (CPR), hostility and the ensuing poor health
behaviours. Uncontrolled diabetes is a common feature among those with repeated
events of IHD. . Few studies have addressed such a concern in Middle Eastern
countries. However, intriguing aspects of such conditionsis patients' knowledge about
the risk factors for the disease.
Objective: The current work was designed to characterize patients with recurrent
episodes of ischemic heart disease in regards to health literacy, nutrition literacy, and
other risk factors.
Methods: The methodology followed in the present work was an inferential approach,
using a cross-sectional design. Patients were recruited from Sultan Qaboos University
Hospital based on a patient history of having an angiographically proven recurrence
of Ischaemic Heart Disease (IHD). An interviewer-administered questionnaire was
used to identify sociodemographic data, health literacy, and nutrition literacy. Serum
levels of folate and vitamin B12 were also assessed. The internal consistency was
checked at the pretesting stage. Univariate analysis was used to determine the
differences of health and nutrition literacy in regards to sociodemographic and
biochemical characteristics. Binary logistic regression was applied to identify the key
determinants of health and nutrition literacy.
Results: The majority of the participants were in their middle age (62%), and the
frequency of the disease recurrence cases was noticed among men, married, and
unemployed. The serum values of folate and vitamin B12 were found within the
normal range among the patients. The education was statistically significantly
associated with combined health and nutrition literacy (OR; 4.25, p = 0.02).
Conclusion: My study provides a springboard for a new way to do characterization of
patients with IHD recurrence in an Arabic-speaking country. Research into validating
the currently established health and nutrition literacy tools in Arabic speaking regions
is deferred to future work. Future prospective designed researches are needed to
characterize those with a single episode against those with multiple episodes of IHD.
