Comparative analysis of the frequency of risk factors for chronic non-communicable diseases and quality of life for the first-year students of higher and secondary special educational institutions

Objective. To compare the frequency of risk factors (RF) of chronic noncommunicable diseases and the quality of life (QoL) of the first-year students of higher (university/high school) and secondary specialized educational institutions (colleges).

Design and methods. Altogether 839 first-year students of universities and colleges were examined. The frequency of behavioral (tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, irrational nutrition, hypodynamia) and metabolic (hypertension, overweight/obesity, hypercholesterolemia, hyperglycemia) RF was determined. QoL was studied using the Russian version of the WHO short questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF).

Results. The most common RF among first-year students was alcohol consumption (67,3-73,6 %), while the type of institution did not affect the frequency of this factor. Students of colleges versus students of high schools more frequently smoked (45,3 % vs. 25,3 %, p < 0,001), and were more prone to inactivity (22,7 % vs. 13,6 %, p < 0,001). In contrast, irrational nutrition is more typical for university students (70,0 % vs. 58,5 %, p < 0,001). The frequency of obesity/overweight was the highest among metabolic RF in all groups of freshmen (11,7-14,4 %). Hypertension was more common in young men, its frequency reached 8,6-8,9 % in males and did not depend on the type of educational institution. Hypercholesterolemia and hyperglycemia are more typical for University students. The QoL of Tomsk students is characterized by relatively unfavorable values for all categories, except for girls studying in high schools. The lowest indices of QoL of freshmen of both types of educational institutions were registered in the environmental domain, the highest scores — in the domain of social relations. Gender-related differences were found within each type of educational institution: among freshmen in colleges and technical schools, the level of QoL of men exceeded that of girls in the fields of physical and mental health, and among university students the girls were ahead of boys in all four domains of QoL. The alcohol consumption, smoking, irrational nutrition had a negative impact on the QoL of college students.

Conclusions. Population of the first-year students is heterogeneous in terms of QoL and the frequency of some RF of chronic non-communicable diseases. The results will help to develop personalized preventive measures for each type of educational institutions.

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