Assessment of the risk of developing cardiovascular pathology in medical university students

Diseases of the cardiovascular system (hypertension, coronary heart disease, and heart failure) occupy leading places in the overall pathology structure. A specific feature is a growing share of young people who suffer from cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in the total population. This is facilitated by physical inactivity, unhealthy diets, elevated stress levels as well as genetic predisposition. Identification of leading risk factors at the latent stage can make for timely diagnostics of cardiovascular pathology in young people. This, in its turn, allows implementing relevant prevention as well as adjusting therapies thereby improving quality of life of each individual patient.

Given that, the aim of this study was to assess risk factors causing CVDs in medical university students; to determine severity of existing cardiovascular disorders as well as their relationships with factors that may have caused them. Eight hundred and seventeen students participated in the study. They all took part in a survey to identify risks of developing CVDs with certain adjustments made to an applied questionnaire to adapt it for use among students. Also, the study involved assessing basic anthropometric parameters (height, weight, and body mass index (BMI)), hypertension in family case history, physical activity, time spent with gadgets (use of smartphone), and alcohol consumption.

The study revealed that 30 % of the examined people had overweight; more than 54 % abused alcohol; 53 % of the respondents mentioned elevated stress levels. All this creates significantly elevated risks of cardiovascular diseases as well as their complications for young and middle-aged people. The study results clearly indicate elevated risks of cardiovascular pathology and this requires correction of risk factors at an early stage.