[Cardiovascular risk factors in ethiopian medical students]

Selected cardiovascular risk factors, serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels, presence of overweight, blood pressure and lifestyle patterns were assessed in 66 male medical students from Ethiopia aged between 18 and 26 years. Mean serum cholesterol concentration was 134.4 mg/dl with a standard deviation (SD) of 39.2 mg/dl; mean triglyceride concentration was 93.8 mg/dl (SD 43.6 mg/dl) and mean HDL-cholesterol in a subsample (n = 26) was 41.4 mg/dl (SD 14.2 mg/dl). Eight students (12.1%) were classified as having a sedentary life-style, 1 student was hypertensive, 5 (7.6%) had a body mass index above 28 kg m-2, 6 (9.1%) had serum cholesterol levels above 200 mg/dl and 5 (7.6%) triglyceride levels above 180 mg/dl. There was a trend for some risk factors to increase with the socio-economic status. In multiple regression analysis, body mass index was the only independent factor associated with systolic blood pressure, serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, while body mass index itself was significantly related to parental income.