Qatar Biobank Report Highlights Common Health Issues, Lifestyle

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Fazeena Saleem | The Peninsula

Doha, Qatar: The Qatar Biobank has published data of common health issues and lifestyle based on the findings of its first and longest population based a cohort study.

Some of the findings highlight the prevalence of lifestyle diseases, vitamin D deficiency, common smoking and eating habits. The population based cohort study by the Qatar Biobank is a medical research initiative aims to recruit 60,000 Qatari nationals and long-term residents of more than 15 years, over the age of 18, with five-year follow up visits. Till date 37,000 participants have been recruited to the study.

The 2022-2023 annual report of Qatar Biobank has published data collected from 30,742 cohort participants.

In the population based cohort study, health and Lifestyle data have been collected through questionnaires. The metabolic conditions are known to affect the long-term health of a population and are common within the population of Qatar, according to data published in the annual report.

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Medical screening for some of the more commonly diagnosed conditions in Qatar are recorded in the study, and the results show that 81% of women and 57% of men have had their vitamin D levels checked. After vitamin D screening for women, breast cancer was most reported 33% and colon cancer followed by prostate cancer recorded at 6% and 5% among men respectively.

As part of the cohort study, serum Vitamin D levels are recorded from the biological samples that are sent for clinical analysis.

Eighteen percent of cohort participants' results showed severe deficiency. A further 67% showed mild to moderate deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency is a chronic burden on health services in Qatar, according to the report and Vitamin D supplements are commonly taken to improve vitamin D levels.

The data published by the Qatar BioBank shows that 20% of men were recorded as being in the overweight category with a BMI of 25 or more compared to 15.5% of women. A further 18% of men recorded a BMI above 30, placing them in the obese category compared with 23% of women.

While, hypertension is one of the medical conditions frequently referred for further investigations and treatment.

Smoking of shisha is more common than smoking cigarettes in the cohort population. From the responses received, 21% of men and women reported smoking cigarettes, and 33% reported smoking shisha. More men reported smoking across both types, with 89% of men smoking cigarettes and 85% of men smoking shisha.

Fast food remains a popular food choice with both men and women reporting eating fast food regularly, 29% women and 26% of men eating once or twice a week. The recruitment strategy for the cohort study aims to maintain a balanced recruitment rate for males and females. Some 49.6% males and 50.4% females participating in the cohort study. Participants were recruited from 61 countries with 76% being Qatari nationals. Yemeni and Jordanian nationals who are long-term residents in Qatar make up 8% in total. Participants from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, UAE, and Kuwait make up 2% of the recruited population.

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