FREQUENCY OF RISK FACTORS AND AWARENESS REGARDING ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASES AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS OF A PRIVATE MEDICAL COLLEGE, PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN

OBJECTIVES: To find out the frequency of risk factors and awareness levels regarding Ischemic heart disease (IHD) among medical students of a private medical college of Peshawar Pakistan. METHODS: It was a cross-sectional study design. All the students from first and second year MBBS were invited using universal sampling technique, of which 143 (48 males 59 females) participated. Data was collected using an interview based questionnaire, which included questions regarding frequency of risk factors and awareness level of students regarding ischemic heart disease. Frequency tables were drawn using an SPSS 15. RESULTS: Mean age of the study population was 19.8±1.0 years. Vast majority of the students (90.2%) were well-aware of the risk factors associated with IHD. Majority of students were found to be vulnerable to risk factors associated with IHD such as lack of exercise (n=62; 44%), family history of IHD (n=39; 27.3%), presence of stress (n=89; 62.2%) and use of junk food per week (n=68; 47.6%). Smoking habit was observed in only 4.2% (n=6) of students. No association was found between awareness levels of students with gender, smoking habits, exercise, stress, use of oil or ghee and consumption of junk food. CONCLUSION: Despite the fact that over-whelming majority of the students were well aware of the risk factors for IHD; they were prone to common risk factors such as lack of exercise, use of junk food, family history of IHD and presence of stress.