Knowledge and protective health behaviors concerning risk factors for coronary heart disease among baghdad university students

Abstract

Background: Coronary heart disease, a gradual buildup of fatty deposits in the coronary arteries, occurs as a result of several risk factors with 75% attributable to lifestyle choices. Objectives: To evaluate knowledge and behaviour of Baghdad University students concerning coronary heart disease and to identify the relationship between demographic characteristic data with student’s knowledge and health behavior. Methodology: A cross-sectional design study utilizing a stratified random sampling method. Students of all colleges of Baghdad University (BU) in Baghdad City were included. The respondents were randomly selected from each college. The sample size was 200. Knowledge, health behaviour questionnaire was developed and distributed to the respondents involved. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Results: The majority of the study were female who accounted for (54%) of the total participants while male constituted (46%). Most of the study participants (35%) were ages between 20 and 21 years old. Study participants’ distribution in equal forms on colleges twenty-five percent for each college. (28.5%) of the students were first class. The majority of students (76.5%) were single and the remainder was married. Majority (79%) lived in urban areas while the rest (21%) lived in rural areas. Conclusions: findings of study shows that, undergraduate students have poor knowledge regarding risk factors for coronary heart diseases, as well as results demonstrate overall students have good behaviour toward preventive measurement about risk factors of CHD.