Cardiovascular risk factors in students from the health Sciences Center - Campina Grande - Brazil

Abstract

Background: Research related to cardiovascular risk factors among college students is essential, considering their roles in society.Purpose: To assess the cardiovascular risk factors among students of the Health Sciences of a University of Campina Grande.Materials and methods: We conducted a study involving 234 university students with mean age of 23.2± 3.9 years. Students were interviewed, obtained the anthropometric data and measured blood pressure.Continuous variables were expressed as means and standard deviations, while categorical variables bytheir frequencies. We used the Student t test to identify differences between means. The chi-square testwas used to assess differences between frequencies. The level of significance was p <0.05. The studywas approved by the Ethics Committee.Results: The majority (161 to 68.8%) of students were female. The medical school accounted for thelargest number (150 - 64.1%) of undergraduates surveyed. The courses of physiotherapy and nursingrespectively accounted for 17.9% of students enrolled in the study. Most (53.4%) of parents had completed college. Sedentary lifestyle was reported by 123 (52.6%) students. The prevalence of overweightand obesity was 43.6%. Hypertension (HBP) was observed in 37 (15.8%) students, however, in only five(14.7%) the disease was under control.Conclusion: The prevalence of: overweight / obesity and physical inactivity were high (± 40%) and areassociated with hypertension.