The relationship of sex and marital status to coronary heart disease risk factors in israeli medical students

We studied selected coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors in three consecutive classes of Jerusalem medical students (N = 194). Males had higher cumulative risk scores compared with females because of higher mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures (123/80 vs. 113/74 mmHg), body mass (Quetelet index 23.1 vs. 21.9), more cigarette smoking (2.3 vs. 0.7 cigarettes/day), and despite lower mean cholesterol levels (205 vs. 213 mg/dL). Marital status did not alter total risk for males or for females, but singles smoked more than married persons (2.2 vs. 0.7 cigarettes/day), and married females had higher mean body mass index than singles (22.7 vs. 21.5). The identification of individuals and subgroups at relatively higher risk for CHD may lead to improvement in risk in highly motivated students.