Publication:

Knowledge and perception of hypercholesterolemia among Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University students

Background Hypercholesterolemia is one of the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease, which could escalate mortality rates in Saudi Arabia. Research has shown that the prevalence of high cholesterol in Saudi Arabia is predicted to rise in the next few years. The knowledge and perception are important as this is one of the modifiable risk factors for NCDs. The aim of study is to assess the knowledge and perception regarding hypercholesterolemia among university students and to determine if there is any relation between knowledge and perception of hypercholesterolemia among university students.

Methods A cross-sectional study using a self-administrated questionnaire measuring the knowledge and perception of hypercholesterolemia was conducted among 588 medical and non-medical students at Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University.

Results The result indicates that 54.93% of the participants had poor knowledge about hypercholesterolemia and 79.76% of them had a positive perception about it.

Conclusions There is a gap in knowledge and perception regarding high cholesterol. Furthermore, it was found that there is a significant association between the knowledge and perception regarding hypercholesterolemia among Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University students.