A cross-sectional study was conducted in two hospitals in Hargeisa city to determine the job and organizational stress among nurses and doctors in ICU and its influencing factors. A universal sampling method was carried out and one hundred and twenty questionnaires were distributed among nurses and doctors working in intensive care units of two hospitals on different shift duties; morning, afternoon, night and rotation shifts. The response rate was 83.3%. Regression analysis showed that approximately 88% (adjusted R square = 0.889) of the variation in stress mean score was explained by the background variables. Experience, role overload, physical environment and marital status were significant predictors.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in Malaysia and many parts of the world. Potentially modifiable risk factors for CVD include diabetes mellitus, hypertension, abdominal obesity, smoking and psychosocial stress. Over the last several decades, efforts to prevent or treat CVD risk factors have resulted in significantly lower rates of CVD-related mortality. However, many patients have never achieved adequate control of CVD risk factors despite them being identified. The aims of this study were to measure the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and to determine its associated factors. A cross sectional study was carried out in a rural area of Malaysia from March 2011 to November 2011 on 1489 respondents aged 18 and above who were selected via convenient sampling. The survey was conducted via a face-to-face interview using a standardized self administered questionnaire. Prevalence of cardiovascular disease identified was 72 cases (4.8%). Overall, the prevalence of modifiable risk factors were predominant compared to non modifiable, with abdominal obesity (51.2%) hypertension (39.5%) and psychosocial stress (33.8%) being among the highest. However, the prevalence of other modifiable risk factors was relatively low with smoking (25.2%), and diabetes mellitus (10.9%) respectively. Respondent with diabetes mellitus and hypertension were 4 times more likely to have cardiovascular disease and those who are obese had associated 2.5 risks towards cardiovascular disease. Therefore, community health intervention measures should be mobilized, specifically on prevention and control of lifestyle-related risk factors.