Prevalence of Risk factors of Non Communicable Diseases amongst Medical Students, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Background: Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in India have increased from 37.9% in 1990 to 61.8% in 2016. They are slowly progressive are of long duration and are responsible for more than 50% of the global burden of disease Very few studies have been conducted that studied the prevalence of risk factors in non-communicable diseases among medical students. The authors observed that most of the students are at risk of developing NCDs, and the cumulative effect of risk factors bundles up and eventually leads to disease as students advance through their lives.

Aim and objectives: (i) To estimate the prevalence of risk factors of NCD amongst medical students, (ii) To study the association between various risk factors and NCDs in study subjects.

Settings and design: A cross-sectional analytical study involving 362 undergraduate students of Rama Medical College using simple random sampling.

Material and methods: The study used a pretested structured questionnaire which was conducted by using the WHO NCD steps approach.

Statistical analysis used: Data analysis was done by using M S Excel and software SPSS version 26.

Results: Our study results showed that physical activity is Prevalent in female students at 51% and in male students at 48.9%, almost equal. Junk food consumption had an overall prevalence of 69.34% of females outnumbering males in junk food consumption. The association of BMI with NCD as a risk factor was statistically significant in the current 75 smokers only.

Conclusion: There is a huge opportunity to reduce modifiable risk factors and NCD among our future doctors by encouraging them to change their behavior-related lifestyles such as smoking habits, alcohol use, junk food, etc.