Evolução de indicadores antropométricos, pressóricos e do risco cardiovascular estimado em universitários: estudo de coorte

Abstract

Starting university represents a transition marked by changes in routine, social relationships, and health-related behaviors, a period during which cardiovascular risk factors may develop at an early stage. This study aimed to analyze changes in anthropometric and blood pressure parameters and in the estimated 30-year cardiovascular risk among first-year students enrolled in health sciences programs at the Federal University of Alagoas throughout their first year of undergraduate education. This was a prospective cohort study, with assessments conducted at the beginning of the course and after 14 months, between 2025 and 2026, including measurements of weight, height, body mass index, waist circumference, and systolic blood pressure, as well as the estimation of 30-year cardiovascular risk using the Framingham Cardiovascular Risk Score. Of the 145 students included in the initial assessment, 42 completed the follow-up and comprised the sample for the longitudinal analyses. A slight, non-significant increase in weight and body mass index was observed between the two assessment points, with relative stability across risk categories. There was also a slight decrease in systolic blood pressure, although without statistical significance, which does not indicate a consistent reduction among the students. Waist circumference, in turn, showed a statistically significant mean increase, accompanied by a substantial shift of students toward higher-risk categories associated with this measure. The estimated 30-year cardiovascular risk remained predominantly low and stable across the sample, with no significant difference between assessments. No statistically significant associations were identified between the observed changes and sex, age, or the lifestyle habits analyzed, except for a positive correlation between changes in body mass index and waist circumference. It is concluded that changes in the students’ cardiovascular profile did not occur uniformly across the indicators assessed, highlighting that cardiovascular assessment in young adults should incorporate measures complementary to long-term risk scores and body mass index, which are capable of identifying early changes, such as the increase in abdominal adiposity observed in this study.