Cardiovascular Risk Factors among College Students: Knowledge, Perception and Risk Assessment

Background: Young adults in the United States are not realistic about their health and eating habits; one-third do not understand the association between their current health behaviors and the impact on their future cardiovascular disease risk.

Purpose: To assess a college population of young adults’ knowledge and perception of cardiovascular risk factors and to screen for their cardiovascular risks and cluster subgroups with similar characteristics.

Conceptual Framework: The conceptual models guiding this study were the Health Belief Model and the Information, Motivation and Behavioral Skills Model.

Method: A descriptive research study was conducted in 158 college students, who attended a Midwestern university. The average age of the participants were 24.33 years old (ages 19-39). Participants’ socio-demographics, knowledge (Heart Disease Fact Questionnaire) and perception (Health Beliefs Related to Cardiovascular Disease) of cardiovascular risk factors , and biomarkers (random blood glucose, blood pressure, lipid panels, height and weight) were assessed. The Pooled Cohort risk equations and 30-year cardiovascular disease assessments were generated for cardiovascular risk estimates. Hierarchical clustering analysis was used to identify subgroups of high risk individuals.

Results: College students were knowledgeable (M=13.9, SD=2.30) about cardiovascular risk factors , but did not perceived themselves at risk for cardiovascular disease. There were no significant relationships found between knowledge and perception of cardiovascular risk factors . Knowledge of cardiovascular risk factors  was correlated with the lifetime risk estimates rho=.17, p=.048, and perception of cardiovascular risk factors were positively associated with the 30-year cardiovascular disease estimates rho=.16, p=.048. The average lifetime risk assessment (31.4%) was higher compared to the average 30-year cardiovascular disease assessment (4.8%). The cluster technique identified white, single males with a family history of heart disease, overweight/obese, hypertensive, and occasionally (weekly) consumed red meats were considered the higher risk group to target for cardiovascular risk reduction intervention compared to other subgroups.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated that high knowledge level of cardiovascular risk factors  is not sufficient to maintain an optimal cardiovascular risk estimates, but changing perception of cardiovascular risk factors  may play a bigger role in long-term cardiovascular risks. It also identified a high risk subgroup of a population that should be targeted for cardiovascular risk reduction.