THE LEVEL OF GRAMMAR SCHOOL STUDENTS' KNOWLEDGE ON CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE RISK FACTORS

Cardiovascular diseases are one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. The atherosclerotic process in the aorta starts in childhood, while atheroclerotic changes of coronary heart vessels start in adolescence. The aim of the study was to evaluate the knowledge of the students attending all four grades of grammar school about the risk factors for cardiovascular disease, with special attention to the risk factors that can be influenced by modification of life-style.

Data from the entrance and exit tests were collected from 197 students attending a grammar school in Novi Sad. Chi-square test and Student T-test or Mann-Whitney U test were used to examine the statistical difference between categorized variables and the continuous variables, respectively.

The difference between the number of correct answers for all the students on the entrance test and exit test was statistically significant (p<0.0005) and the overall knowledge level after lectures was increased by 29.4%. The lowest level of knowledge on the entrance tests was noted among the students of the third grade of grammar school and after the lectures, the student's knowledge level was increased by 82.3% (p<0.0005).

Children and adolescents from Vojvodina and Serbia should be well informed about the cardiovascular disease risk factors and their prevention with special attention paid to the risk factors that can be influenced by changing lifestyle habits.