Assessment of awareness about cardiovascular diseaseudrisk factors and association between overweightudand family history of cardiovascular diseaseudamong first-year medical students of audmedical college in Karnataka

摘要

Background: It is estimated in WHO Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD) Country Profiles 2011 that NCD account for 53%udof all deaths. Of which, 24% are due to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) alone. Lifestyle-related behavioral risk factors areudmainly implicated among medical students.udObjectives: To assess the awareness about CVD risk factors; to measure the cardiovascular risk behaviors usingudstructured questionnaire; and to find the association between overweight and family history of CVDs among first-yearudmedical students.udMaterials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among first-year medical students of Shridevi Institute ofudMedical Sciences & Research Hospital, Tumkur, Karnataka, India. A self-administered structured questionnaire was usedudto obtain information. The study period was from March 2014 to May 2014. The data analysis was done using SPSSudsoftware, version 17. w2-test and unpaired t-test were used.udResults: The study subjects were 146 first-year medical students belonging to 17–22 year age group. There was lack ofudawareness about CVD risk factors. CVD risk behaviors were highly prevalent among medical students. Students withudfamily history of CVDs had higher mean body mass index (22.61 vs 21.44 kg/m2, P o 0.05) than those without familyudhistory of CVDs. The association between overweight and family history of CVDs among students was statisticallyudsignificant (P o 0.05).udConclusion: Lack of awareness about CVD risk factors and unhealthy behavioral practices are prevalent among first-yearudmedical students and may progress as students advance through medical college. Behavior change communication andudhealth education strategies are essential.