Knowledge and Poor Understanding Factors of Stroke and Heart Attack Symptoms

Chang Hoon Han, Hyeyun Kim, Sujin Lee and Jae Ho Chung
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Chang Hoon Han: Department of Internal Medicine, National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, Goyang 10444, Korea
Hyeyun Kim: Department of Neurology, Catholic Kwandong University College of Medicine, International St. Mary’s Hospital, Incheon 22711, Korea
Sujin Lee: Department of Neurology, Catholic Kwandong University College of Medicine, International St. Mary’s Hospital, Incheon 22711, Korea
Jae Ho Chung: Department of Internal Medicine, Catholic Kwandong University College of Medicine, International St. Mary’s Hospital, Incheon 22711, Korea

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 19, 1-11

Abstract: Objectives: Adequate awareness of cardiovascular disease (CVD) may help in its prevention and control. Therefore, we evaluated knowledge among the general population of stroke and heart attack symptoms and determined the factors associated with poor understanding of CVD. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 228,240 adults (102,408 males, 125,832 females) who participated in the 2017 Korean Community Health Survey. Data on sociodemographic characteristics and cognizance of the warning signs of CVD events (stroke and heart attack) were examined. Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate factors associated with poor understanding of CVD. Results: The stroke and heart attack warning signs that were identified least often by respondents were “sudden poor vision in one or both eyes” (66.1%) and “pain or discomfort in the arm or shoulder” (53.8%). Of the subjects, 19.0% had low CVD knowledge scores (less than 4 out of 10) with males having lower scores than females. In the multivariate analysis, poor understanding of CVD warning signs was significantly associated with older age, male gender, lower education level, lack of regular exercise, unmarried status, unemployment, poor economic status, poor health behaviors (high salt diet, no health screening), poor psychological status (high stress, self-perceived poor health status), and the presence of hypertension or dyslipidemia. Conclusions: Specialized interventions, including those based on public education, should focus on groups with less knowledge of CVD.

Keywords: cardiovascular disease; awareness; stroke; heart attack (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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