Abstract
Objective: the objective of this study was to assess the lifestyle stress-related pattern of Saudi patients with chronic illnesses. Methodology: This is a case-control study enrolled 304 Saudi volunteers living in the city of Hail, Northern Saudi Arabia. All participants were selected randomly regardless of age and sex. Participants with chronic illness including; (Type2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), Hypertension ( HTN), Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), Dyslipidemia and Asthma) were ascertained as case group and those without any reported chronic illness were ascertained as a control group. Results: The most frequent chronic illness in the present study was T2DM, followed by dyslipidemia, hypertension, Asthma, and cardiovascular disease, representing 71/186(38%), 65/186(35%), 45/186(24%), 27/186(15%), and 18/186(10%). The absence of stress was observed in 22/115(19%) of the controls compared to only 12/186(6.5%) of the cases. A higher proportion of stress was observed among cases compared to controls, especially when beheld within the entire group. The risk of the stress among patients with chronic illnesses and the RR (95% CI) =1.1499 (1.0464 to 1.2635), P = 0.0037. Conclusion: Stress is prevalent among patients with chronic illness in Hail Region. High episodes of stress might suggest the possibility of progression of stress into anxiety and depression, which necessitates further research.