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Risk factors for cardiovascular diseases during medical academic training
Marcos Thiago Faé1, Marcelo Vier Gambetta1, Nicolas Ramos1
1Research Center in Medical Sciences, Investigations in Health - NPCMed, Faculty of Medicine, Centro Universitário para o Desenvolvimento do Alto Vale do Itajaí - UNIDAVI, Jardim América Rio do Sul, Santa Catarina, CEP 89160-932, Brazil.
Insights
Medical students exhibit lower cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) and negative cardiovascular outcomes compared to the general young adult population. Medical training appears to promote self-care and reduce disease prevalence, particularly during internships.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Medical Education
- Public Health
Background:
- Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a leading global cause of death.
- Previous research on cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) among medical students shows conflicting prevalence rates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the prevalence of CVRFs in medical students.
- To compare CVRF prevalence between early and late stages of medical training.
- To assess if CVRF prevalence in medical students aligns with that of the general young adult population.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional observational study was conducted.
- Data collected via semi-structured questionnaires, physical examinations, and laboratory tests.
- Statistical analysis performed using SPSS software.
Main Results:
- 115 students (74.8% female, mean age 22.4) were evaluated.
- Prevalent CVRFs included altered cholesterol (27.0%), high triglycerides (12.2%), overweight (17.4%), inadequate physical activity (45.2%), family history (44.3%), high stress (68.7%), anxiety (83.5%), insomnia (28.7%), sleep deprivation (60.0%), and alcohol use (91.3%).
- Stress levels were highest in the clinical cycle and lowest during internship, with a statistically significant difference.
Conclusions:
- Medical students demonstrate a lower prevalence of CVRFs and reduced risk of negative cardiovascular outcomes compared to the general young adult population.
- Medical training may foster self-care, health promotion, stress reduction, and disease prevention, thereby lowering CVD prevalence, especially in later training stages.
Background:
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the main cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. Previous studies disagree about the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) among medical students.
Objectives:
Determine the CVRFs prevalence in medical students. Compare the FRCVs percentage from initial and advanced course stages. Evaluate whether the CVRFs percentage was similar to that from population in the same age group, as previously described in another studies.
Method:
This is a cross-sectional observational study that evaluated the CVRFs prevalence in medical students using a semi-structured questionnaire, in addition to physical examination and laboratory tests. For statistical analysis, statistical package for the social science software (SPSS, version 22.0) was used.
Results:
115 students were evaluated: 74.8%, female; mean age, 22.4±3.1 years. In the general sample was found altered dosages of total cholesterol (27.0%), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL, 5.2%), triglycerides (12.2%), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL, 8.7%), fasting glucose (4.3%), overweight (17.4%), obesity (5.2%), inadequate physical activity (45.2%), family history of cardiovascular disease (44.3%), stress (68.7%), anxiety (83.5%), insomnia (28.7%), sleep deprivation (60.0%), alcohol use (91.3%) and low cardiovascular risk (100.0%). The average score from PSS-14 questionnaire showed greater stress in the basic (27.0±6.7) and clinical cycle (28.3±7.1) and less stress in the internship (22.3±6.4). There was a statistical difference between the clinical cycle and internship (P < 0.05). During internship, there was a lower association between stress and graduation (33.3%), especially when compared to the clinical cycle (75.4%) (P < 0.01; ra=2.9).
Conclusion:
CVRFs exposure and the risk of negative cardiovascular outcomes are lower in medical students when compared to young adult population. Suggestive of medical training contributes to self-care, health promotion, stress reduction and disease prevention, reducing the cardiovascular diseases prevalence, especially in the internship.
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