title: Awareness and knowledge of cardiovascular disease risk factors among medical students.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitude of medical students in relation to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors as well as to assess the impact of medical education on their knowledge and recognition of the importance of implementation of preventive measures.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study included 514 students in the second year of studying at the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade, Serbia (younger students response rate 79.57%) and 511 students in the last year of education (older students response rate 90.21%). For data collection, an anonymous self-administered questionnaire was used, which included two types of questions about CVD risk factors and questions about the student's attitude.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Older students knew significantly more about CVD risk factors than students who were at the beginning of their medical studies; however, more than half of the older students did not know the correct answers about CVD risk factors. The only exceptions were questions about "bad" and "good" cholesterol, metabolic syndrome (MSy) and lipid lowering therapy in high risk subjects. Physical inactivity, obesity, type 2 diabetes, smoking and hypertension were not ranked highly enough as important CVD risk factors. Compared groups of students did not significantly differ in attitude scores. The majority of them recognized CVD as the leading cause of death, had normal weight and knew their own blood pressure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Knowledge of medical students from Belgrade about CVD risk factors should be improved.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hygiene and Medical Ecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia. milos.maksimovic@mfub.bg.ac.rs.
authors.forename: Miloš Ž
authors.initials: MŽ
authors.lastname: Maksimović
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Statistics and Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Jelena M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Marinković
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Hristina D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Vlajinac
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Jadranka M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Maksimović
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hygiene and Medical Ecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Milena S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Tomanić
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, Dedinje Cardiovascular Institute, Belgrade, Serbia.|Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Djordje J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Radak
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003479:Curriculum; D004501:Education, Medical; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D012307:Risk Factors; D055771:Serbia; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cardiovascular disease; Medical students; Metabolic syndrome; Risk factors