Assessment of risk of metabolic syndrome and cardio vascular diseases among medical students in India

Abstract

Background: Medical students are vulnerable to various lifestyle disorders due to improper diet, physical activity and inadequate sleep. Aims: To assess the risk status of components of metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases among medical students. Methods: Information was collected using a standard self-administered questionnaire. Blood pressure, waist circumference, height and weight of students were measured using standard procedures. Fasting blood sample was taken for plasma glucose, lipid profile, cortisol levels and thyroid hormone assays. Results: Eighty-eight participants with mean age 21.9 ± 1.1 years took part in this study. Thirty-one (35.2%) participants reported fried food consumption every day. Majority of the participants 35(39.8%) reported moderate exercise less than once a week. Most participants 83 (94.3%) had sleep duration of ≤8 hours at night. Various components of metabolic syndrome like waist circumference (WC), triglyceride (TG) levels, high density lipoprotein (HDL) levels, blood pressure (BP) values and fast-ing blood glucose (FBG) levels were abnormal in 36 (40.9%), 2 (2.3%), 39 (44.3%), 21 (23.9%) and 7 (7.9%) participants respectively. Obesity was present among 33 (37.5%) students. Positive correlation between body mass index (BMI) with WC (p<0.001) and TG (p=0.011) and negative correlation between BMI and HDL levels (p=0.008) was observed. There was also a positive correlation between WC with SBP (p=0.006) and with DBP (p=0.049) values. One or more risk factors of metabolic syndrome was present among 67 (76.1%) participants. It was present among greater proportion of partici-pants with sleep duration of ≤8 hours at night (p=0.05). Medium to high risk of cardiovascular diseases was observed among 30 (34.1%) participants. Conclusion: High proportions of students are vulnerable to develop metabolic syndrome and cardio vascular diseases in this setting. BMI assessment can be used as best predictor to identify the high-risk groups. Improvement in diet, physical activity and adequate sleep duration is required for risk mitigation.