Oman World Health Survey: Part 1 - methodology, sociodemographic profile and epidemiology of non-communicable diseases in Oman

The Oman World Health Survey (OWHS) is community-based household survey conducted in first half of 2008 for Omani and non-Omani population aged 18 years and above. It is a part of the World Health Survey (WHS) series which was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a means to compile comprehensive information on the health of populations in different countries. A multi-stage stratified cluster sampling was designed to select about 5000 eligible subjects 18 years and above. The main objectives of the survey were to determine the national prevalence of Hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus, Obesity, Lipoproteins, Anemia, Visual ability and Cognitive functions. Among Omanis, the prevalence of Hypertension (40.3%), Diabetes Mellitus (12.3%), Obesity using BMI (24.1%), Total cholesterol (33.6%), Anemia in males 20% and in non-pregnant females was 32.2%. In Oman, the increase in lifestyle-related non communicable diseases has emerged as new health challenges to the country which need to be addressed.