Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Russia: A Student Teaching Research Intervention

The purpose of this research is to discuss the prevalence of cardiovascular disease in Russia and the effect of nursing students' teaching projects on cardiovascular risk factors. Russia experiences death rates from cardiovascular heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and diabetes twice the rates in other western countries. A clinic in a rural town in Northern Russia was used as the setting for the study. Nursing students conducted health assessments and screening activities for obesity, dyslipidemias, hypertension, and elevated glucose. They also conducted teaching projects on heart disease, diabetes, nutrition and exercise as an intervention. Data was collected over a two year period. Of the 186 participants 27 returned to the clinic both years for assessments by students and attended the teaching projects. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Tests were used to compare pre and post teaching intervention data over the two year period. The average age of participants was 67 (SD=8.96) and most were women (93%). The average BMI was 28.44 (SD=6.90), mean glucose 135.60 (SD=48.77), triglycerides 151 (SD=1.49), total cholesterol 228.38 (SD=65.50), and all had hypertension (>140/90). Significant findings between pre and post teaching intervention were glucose (Z=3.24, p<.001), triglycerides (Z=-2.11, p<.03), systolic BP (Z=2.41, p<.01) and diastolic BP (Z=2.90, p<.00) indicating a decrease in cardiovascular risk factors 1 year after the student teaching intervention. Although the sample size is small, these findings indicate that nursing students' teaching projects can have a positive effect on health behaviors of international populations.