Coronary Heart Disease Risk Profile among University of Kwa-Zulu Natal Students

Abstract

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the primary aetiological factors of mortality in many countries. People are no longer as physically active as they were a few decades ago, because of their sedentary lifestyles. This
study was conducted to determine the coronary heart disease risk profile of students studying at the Westville campus of the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (UKZN). Two hundred and twenty-three students who volunteered participated in the study. Participants underwent a health screening and risk stratification assessment which included an interview (to determine exercise history, and prevalence of hypokinetic diseases),  kinanthropometric measures (body mass, stature and skinfold), resting
2 heart rate and blood pressure measures and a bicycle ergometer PWC test (indirectly 170 estimate VO max). Descriptive statistics which included mode, mean, frequency, percentages and inferential statistics comprising
chi-square (p# 0.05) were employed in the statistical analysis. All  participants reported no history of hypokinetic disease and perceived they were not at risk of CHD (p<0.001). The exercise history of males revealed that 86.66% participated in exercise, cricket, soccer, rugby and hockey, while 13.34% were sedentary (X2 p-value; 1.58E-17). Females (88.64%) were more physically active participating in netball, hockey, athletics
and exercise, whilst 11.36% were sedentary (X2p-value; 4.2E-13). Active female participants exercised and played sport for 2.38 sessions per week for an average duration of 34.28 minutes per session. The active male
participants exercised and played sport for 0.65 sessions per week for an average of 30 minutes per session. Descriptive statistical analyses identified the female participants’ mean BMI (24.34 kg/m²), percent body
2 fat (20.72%), resting heart rate (78.19 bpm), mean arterial pressure (87.85 mmHg) and V0 max (38.93 ml/kg/min) as being within their age and gender norms. Similarly male participants’ mean BMI (23.05 kg/m²),
2 percent body fat (12.29%), resting heart rates (73.14 bpm), MAP (87.75 mmHg) and VO max (39.03 ml/kg/min) complied with their age and gender norms. The study concluded that the participants are not at risk of CHD.

KEYWORDS: coronary heart disease, health