10 Year Cardiovascular Risk assessment In university students

Abstract

Introduction Cardiovascular disease (CVD) causes more than half of all deaths in the European region, and according to WHO, 80% of premature heart disease and stroke is preventable. Healthy lifestyles, such as eating a healthy diet, regular physical activity, and not smoking are the most important preventive measures. Use of CVD risk assessment tools in a young population provides necessary information about risk for CVD which can be used to develop health promotion initiatives for youth. Methods The aim of the study was to compare, BMI, percent body fat (%BF), blood pressure, total cholesterol (TC) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL C), family history, activity behaviors, and the 10 year risk of having a heart attack between 166 students (21.62±2.59 yrs.) from Utah, USA and 198 students (22.11±2.51 yrs.) from Hungary. The body dimensions were measured according to ISAC methods (Norton et al.1996) the %BF was meas- ured with Omron BF 306 and the 10 year CVD risk was calculated online (http://hp2010.nhlbihin.net/atpiii/calculator). Results According to the results, 92% of the Hungarian students and 100%of the Utah students had an estimated 10 year risk of 1% or less, however 8% of the Hungarians had moderate risk. The high prevalence of low risk was due to the young age of subjects, healthy body composition and non smoking behavior. The Hungarians who had higher risk of heart attack had significantly higher waist hip ratio (WHR), TC, diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and were smokers compared to the Hungarians with low risk. Four percent of the Utah students and 3% of the Hungarian students had positive cardiovascular family history. Based on self-reported levels of physical activity, 19% of Utah women and 14% of Utah men were sedentary compared to 50% of Hungarian women and 46% of Hungarian men. Conclusion Age is one of the primary risk factors for CVD. Young men and women who participated in this study were, for the most part healthy and had a low risk for CVD. Never- theless, our data shows that even young men and women who are sedentary, smoke, and have high WHR, TC, and DBP have increased risk of CVD. Although, symptoms of CVD may not be manifest until later in life, health promotion efforts should also be targeted to young men and women.