Key result
Male trainees are ~60% more likely than females to dismiss dietary fat's impact on cholesterol.
Why the study?
Education and information diffusion among future health care providers play a pivotal role in CVD prevention, but knowledge of heart disease risk factors among medical students and interns was not well explored.
Cross-Sectional (n=319)
No
Absolute Event Rate: 40% vs 25%
Identifies specific knowledge gaps regarding cardiovascular risk factors among medical students, suggesting a need for targeted educational interventions.
Knowledge gaps in CV risk factors among trainees warrant curriculum review; leaves open whether targeted education improves identification.
Background: leading cause of death worldwide. Education and information diffusion of the general population and especially of future health care providers play a pivotal role in CVD prevention. This study aimed to explore the knowledge of the risk factors of heart disease, among medical students and interns. Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study by including medical students and interns from the medical college of King Khalid University from February to May 2023. Results: We included 319 participants in our study. Almost 60% of participants acknowledged that obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, family history of coronary heart disease, older age, and stress were risk factors for heart disease. Males were more likely to practice sports than females (20% vs. 12% every day) and significantly higher proportion of them indicated that a person knows when they have heart disease (28% vs. 15%), and only exercise lower their risk of cardiovascular disease (38% vs 19%); while they thought that eating fatty food does not impact cholesterol levels rather than females (40% vs. 25%). Conclusion: Most of our sample had adequate knowledge of heart disease factors. Our findings highlight the need for improved education on smoking, obesity, and exercise among medical students to enhance their understanding of cardiovascular risk factors. Despite that, early screening, and detection of the CVD is of extreme importance for the prevention of the possible hazards.
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Alqahtani et al. (2025) conducted a cross-sectional in Knowledge of cardiovascular risk factors (n=319). Male sex vs. Female sex was evaluated on Belief that eating fatty food does not impact cholesterol levels. Among 319 medical students and interns, 60% identified major cardiovascular risk factors, though males were more likely than females to believe fatty food does not impact cholesterol (40% vs 25%).
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