Key result
Nursing students show moderate CVD risk knowledge, with an average score of ~20 out of 28.
Why the study?
Nursing students as future healthcare providers must be knowledgeable about CVD risk factors to prevent disease and reduce their own risk, but their knowledge level was unclear.
Cross-Sectional (n=369)
Yes
Nursing students demonstrate moderate overall knowledge of CVD risk factors, but exhibit specific knowledge gaps regarding HDL cholesterol, red meat consumption, and physical activity nuances, highlighting the need for targeted educational curriculum enhancements.
Moderate knowledge in nursing students may signal need for targeted training; leaves open effects on clinical outcomes or gender disparities.
Background: Cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors are the major global causes of morbidity and mortality. Pakistan is among the countries experiencing a high prevalence of CVD-related deaths, especially among the youth, in recent years. Nursing students, as future frontline healthcare providers, must be knowledgeable about these risk factors to prevent the disease in others, as well as to reduce their own risk. Objective: To evaluate nursing students’ knowledge about CVD risk factors and its association with sociodemographic factors. Methodology: A descriptive cross sectional design using convenience sampling technique was employed. The participants participated were 369 third- and fourth-year nursing students from four private nursing colleges. Data were collected through adopted structured questionnaire with Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.76. For statistical analysis SPSS version 27 was used, and Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were applied for determination of association. Result: The findings revealed that nursing students had moderate awareness of CVD and its risk factors, with a mean score of 20.10 ± 3.25. Statistically, it was found that nursing students possessed highest awareness about hypertension (94%), obesity (91.1%), stress (85.4%), and dietary factors (86.4%), and had the lowest awareness about HDL cholesterol (47.4%), red meat (47.7 %), slow walking (34.4%), and cholesterol-lowering medications (41.7%). Significant associations in knowledge were found for gender (p < 0.001) and marital status (p = 0.004), with males and single students showing higher scores. Conclusion: A moderate level of knowledge is possessed by nursing students, but certain deficiencies in knowledge still exist, which emphasize the need for targeted educational programs and curriculum enhancement for better prevention of cardiovascular disease
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Ullah et al. (2026) conducted a cross-sectional in Cardiovascular disease risk factors knowledge (n=369). Undergraduate nursing education was evaluated on Total score on the Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors Knowledge Level (CARRF-KL) scale (range 0-28). Nursing students demonstrated a moderate level of knowledge regarding cardiovascular disease risk factors with an overall mean score of 20.10 ± 3.25 out of 28, though male students scored significantly higher than female students (p < 0.001).
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