Chronic disease burden and its associated risk factors among migrant workers in Saudi Arabia

Background

Few studies in Saudi Arabia have comprehensively assessed chronic conditions among migrant workers, although they make up one-third of the population. We aimed to assess the prevalence of chronic conditions (i.e., asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, eczema, heart disease, hypertension, obesity, and peptic ulcers) and evaluate the associations between the chronic conditions and other factors (i.e., age, sex, occupation, nationality, and lifestyle) in a sample of migrant workers.

Methods

A cross-sectional study of 2123 migrant workers who represented seven occupation groups was conducted in Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia. Chronic conditions were self-reported or assessed with physical/biological measurements or validated screening questionnaires. Covariates were assessed with standard questions. A multinomial logistic regression identified the significantly associated factors.

Results

The mean age of the participants was 35 ± 9 years; 85.3 % were men, and 65 % were from the Indian subcontinent. We found the following chronic condition prevalence estimates: hypertension = 28.4 %, obesity = 17 %, diabetes = 7.1 %, eczema = 5.7 %, peptic ulcer = 4.0 %, asthma = 2.1 %, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease = 0.9 %, and heart disease = 0.8 %. Nearly a third (31.3 %) of participants had one chronic condition, and 16 % had ≥2 chronic conditions. The factors significantly associated with having ≥2 chronic conditions were female gender (odds ratio [OR] 2.9, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.62–5.19), a university education (OR 2.4, 95 % CI 1.28–4.42), being a past smoker (OR 4.2, 95 % CI 2.26–7.83), and inactivity (OR 2.4, 95 % CI 1.46–3.84).

Conclusion

A significant portion of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia are afflicted with chronic conditions.