Awareness of the role of cardiovascular risk factors and their prevention – comparison between rural-urban and urban adolescents
Loading...
EJTCM_2019_2_2_Szyndler.pdf (652.97 KB)
Date
2020-01-09
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Medical University of Gdańsk
Abstract
Background: Unhealthy habits (poor diet, smoking and hazardous alcohol drinking) often originate from early-life. We assessed the knowledge on selected cardiovascular and cancer risk factors, healthy habits and its implementation among adolescents and the correlation with their place of residence. Materials and methods: A survey-based study (38-item inventory) was conducted among adolescents from urban and rural-urban areas recruited in two Tricity high-schools and one junior high school from Gniewkowo, respectively. Results: A total of 410 students (59% girls) from Tricity and 287 (51% girls) from Gniewkowo completed the inventory. The mean age was 15.3 years. Students from Gniewkowo spend weekly 8.9 ± 6.2 hours on structured physical activity, which contrasts with 5.5 ± 4.5hrs in Tricity (P < 0.001). Gniewkowo residents restrained from alcohol consumption in 38.7% vs. 31.1% in Tricity (P = 0.04); were active smokers at 9.4% vs. 4.2% (P = 0.007); regular fruits and vegetables consumption was low in both Gniewkowo and Tricity 11.8% vs. 8.6% (P = 0.19); respectively. The awareness of the risk factors of non-communicable diseases was more common amongst Tricity adolescents. This was consistently coupled with the knowledge on preventive methods. Conclusions: The level of knowledge on common non-communicable disease risk factors is higher among teenagers from urban areas, however this does not necessarily translate to more frequent introduction of healthy lifestyle.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Ostrówka D, Dereziński T, Nowak M, Komand A, Jancewicz M, Szyndler A, Wolf J, Narkiewicz K. Awareness of the role of cardiovascular risk factors and their prevention – comparison between rural-urban and urban adolescents. Eur J Transl Clin Med. 2019;2(2):27-37. DOI: 10.31373/ejtcm/116002