Abstract

CRUZ GONZALEZ, Jazmín et al. Atherosclerosis risk factors in a group of second year students of medicine. Rev Cubana Med Gen Integr [online]. 2012, vol.28, n.2, pp. 45-54. ISSN 0864-2125.

Introduction: cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases are the main cause of death worldwide. Multiple factors influence in the development and progress of these diseases, some of these factor are modifiable. Objectives: to identify the presence of risk factors for atherosclerotic disease in a group of students from the second year medical studies at the medical faculty "Dr. Salvador Allende", and to determine the most common risk factors in this cohort. Methods: atransversal descriptive study was conducted; we studied all the medical students who were in second year at the Faculty of Medicine "Dr. Salvador Allende ". We included young adults of both sexes between 19 and 27 years of age were who voluntarily accepted to participate in this study. The sample was 79 young adults. The studied risk factors were: overweight, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, low birth weight, smoking habit, some personal medical history (diabetes mellitus, hypertension) and some family medical history related of vascular disease. Each student was verified by weight, height, body mass index, and they were interviewed for the presence of the mentioned risk factors. Results: 98.83 % of the students had some risk factors. 82.61 % of females and 75.75 % of the males had two to three risk factors. Conclusions: in the studied youth subpopulation, significant percentages of atherogenic risk factors were identified. The most frequent risks of developing atherosclerotic disease found were pathological family history, physical inactivity, and smoking habit, in that order.

Keywords : obesity; early atherosclerotic signs; risk factors for atherosclerosis.

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