Key result
Higher CVD knowledge correlates with lower personal risk perception among Nigerian university students.
Among Nigerian university students, greater cardiovascular disease knowledge paradoxically correlates with lower personal risk perception, highlighting the need for personalized risk assessment in health education.
Suggests optimistic bias may blunt CVD education in Nigerian youth; leaves open whether tailored risk feedback alters perception.
We identify a "knowledge-risk paradox" among Nigerian university students: greater knowledge is inversely correlated with lower personal risk perception (r=-0.187, p < 0.001), an association suggesting potent optimistic bias. This disconnect indicates that conventional knowledge-based health education is likely insufficient. Public health interventions must pivot towards strategies that include personalized risk assessment to combat complacency and effectively channel the high pre-existing readiness for healthy lifestyle changes in this population.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Coker et al. (2025) studied this question. Greater cardiovascular disease knowledge in Nigerian university students is inversely correlated with lower personal risk perception (r=-0.187, p < 0.001).
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: