1. Cardiovascular Disease Knowledge in Adults: A Comparison of Young, Middle, and Old Population Groups.
- Author
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Harper, Cassandra, Larkin, Laurie, Larkin, James, and Bryden, Phyllis
- Subjects
CARDIOVASCULAR diseases ,HEART diseases ,HEALTH education ,HEALTH promotion ,YOUTH ,MIDDLE-aged persons ,OLDER people - Abstract
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for Americans. However, Americans' knowledge of this disease appears to be lacking in adults (Mochari-Greenberger et al., 2010; Collins et al., 2004). The goal of this study was to compare cardiovascular disease (CVD) knowledge in young, middle, and old population groups. A valid and reliable questionnaire (The Heart Disease Knowledge Questionnaire, Bergman et al., 2011) was used to assess CVD knowledge. Participants (N = 168) residing in a southeast college community were asked to complete the survey instrument. Survey scores were then stratified by age and analyzed using ANOVA. Results revealed a significant difference in knowledge of heart disease (p <.05) between the three age groups [F(2, 164) = 5.016, p = .008]. The mean scores for each age group were 17.19 (59.67% correct), 19.9 (66.33% correct), and 18.56 (61.87% correct) for the youngest, middle, and old age groups respectively out of a total possible 29 points. A Tukey post hoc test indicated that the mean score for the middle age group (M=19.9, 95% CI [18.87, 20.93]) was significantly higher compared to the youngest age group (M= 17.19, 95% CI [15.99, 18.39]). There were no statistically significant differences between the oldest age group (M = 18.56) compared to the youngest or middle age group. One of the most important questions, "Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States," resulted in 87.4% (n = 146) of participants answering correctly. Overall, all age groups scored the lowest in the CVD domains of "symptoms", "risk factors", and "medical" knowledge but scored the highest in "dietary" and "epidemiology" domains. Results suggest a need to educate all adults in America regarding CVD-related information. Education approaches including media campaigns, school curricula, and physician-patient interventions are needed to prevent early morbidity and mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2013