History And Clinical Examination Based Screening For Risk Factors Of Cardiovascular Diseases In A Cohort Of Final Year Medical Students Of Rawalpindi Medical University

Abstract

Background: Cardiovascular diseases are the
major cause of death all over the world. Various
anthropometric measurements and family history
can be used for screening and thus early detection
and prevention of cardiovascular diseases. This
study determines the risk factors of cardiovascular
diseases, through history and clinical examination
based screening, in final year MBBS students of
Rawalpindi medical university.
Methodology: It is an observational crosssectional study conducted on final year students of
Rawalpindi Medical University. 106 students, 74.5%
females and 25.5% males, were included in the study
with mean age of 22 years. A self-devised
questionnaire was used for data collection. Body
Mass Index (BMI), Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR), Waistto-height Ratio (WHtR), blood pressure and family
history of cardiovascular diseases were used to
evaluate the risk of cardiovascular diseases in the
participants.
Results: Data analysis revealed that 68.9%
participants had low risk, 30.2% had moderate risk
and 0.9% had high risk to develop cardiovascular
diseases.
Conclusions: The study shows that all the above
variables have positive association with the risk of
cardiovascular diseases among which BMI, WHtR
and WHR are most significant.
Key words: Cardiovascular diseases, screening,
Body Mass Index, Waist-to-height Ratio (WHtR),
Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR), Blood pressure, family
history, Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD), Diabetes
mellitus, Stroke, PVD, Hypertension, Dyslipidemias.