Background: Coronary artery disease is the most common form of cardiovascular disease a group of diseases that are a leading cause of mortality worldwide. Aim: To assess the prevalence of coronary artery disease and among patients attending an outpatient clinic in Afghanistan. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 2005 patients from April 2018 to December 2018. Information on socio-demographics, smoking, physical inactivity, history of hypertension, diabetes and coronary artery disease were collected using a face-to-face interview. Anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, electrocardiogram and biomedical measurements were performed. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Results: The prevalence of coronary artery disease among patients was 17.4%, with females having significantly higher prevalence than males (20.1% versus 14.9%, P=0.02). Hypertension and physical inactivity were more prevalent among females than males (47.9% versus 34.6%, P<0.001), and (66.0% versus 51.4%, P<0.001), respectively. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was greater in females than males (59.8% versus 54.6%, P= 0.019) and a higher proportion of females had dyslipidaemia and diabetes mellitus compared to males (81.8% versus 63.3%, P<0.001, and 30.7% versus 23.0%, P<0.001), respectively. However, smoking was more prevalent among males than females (46.5% versus 4.1%, P<0.001). Conclusions: The high prevalence of coronary artery disease and its risk factors among outpatients, especially women, attending one outpatient clinic in Afghanistan, highlights an urgentneedto prevent and control the disease in this area.

Keywords: Coronary artery disease, risk factor, hypertension,