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College Students' Perception of Current and Projected 30-Year Cardiovascular Disease Risk Using Cluster Analysis with
1School of Nursing, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 S. Maryland Pkwy, Box 453018, Las Vegas, NV, 89154-3018, USA. Dieu-my.tran@unlv.edu.
Insights
Young adults often underestimate their cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. This study identified significant discrepancies between perceived and actual 30-year CVD risk in college students, highlighting a need for targeted interventions.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Cardiology
- Health Psychology
Background:
- Cardiovascular risk factors like hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and diabetes are prevalent in young adults.
- Awareness of long-term cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk is often lacking in this demographic.
- Early identification and intervention are crucial for mitigating future CVD events.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate college students' perceptions of their 30-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.
- To analyze the discrepancies between perceived risk and calculated 30-year CVD risk using cluster analysis.
- To identify specific subgroups of students requiring targeted CVD risk reduction interventions.
Main Methods:
- A descriptive, cross-sectional study involving 133 college students (aged 20-36) with no prior CVD history.
- Cluster analysis with internal validation was employed to group students based on risk perception and actual risk.
- Data collection included Likert scale perception scores and a 30-year CVD risk assessment.
Main Results:
- Five distinct clusters emerged from the analysis.
- Two clusters indicated significant discrepancies: high-risk individuals with moderate perception and low-risk individuals with low perception.
- A general lack of awareness regarding personal CVD risk was observed, consistent with national data.
Conclusions:
- There is a critical need to address the gap between perceived and actual cardiovascular disease risk in young adults.
- Nurses and clinicians should prioritize interventions for college students, focusing on those with high risk and low perception, and low risk and low perception.
- Improving CVD risk awareness and promoting early intervention can help reduce the future burden of cardiovascular disease in this population.
Abstract:
Cardiovascular risk factors in young adults at a national level are less than ideal specifically for hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and diabetes. Explore college students' perception of their 30-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk using cluster analysis technique with internal validation. This is a descriptive and cross-sectional study. A total of 133 college students, aged 20-36 with no known history of CVD, were recruited and used to perform cluster analysis with internal validation. The mean age of the sample was 24.85 and predominately female (59.5%). The mean score for perception of cardiovascular risk factors was 21.20 ranging from 12 to 34 points on a Likert scale. The mean score for the 30-year CVD risk assessment was 5.23 ranging from 1 to 22%. Five clusters emerged from the cluster analysis. However, two of the clusters, the highest risk with moderate perception and low risk and lowest perception, were identified as areas for potential intervention as there were discrepancies between subjects' perceived risk and their actual 30-year risk. The national data and literature has indicated a lack of awareness of CVD risk among this population which our study also concurred. Identifying the discrepancies between the perceived and projected CVD risk are useful for researchers and clinicians such as nurses to take the initiative to focus on and begin to intervene in this population to reduce potential adverse events of CVD.