An American Heart Association national study published in the January 2007 issue (Vol. 16, No. 1) of Journal of Women?s Health demonstrated a continuing disparity in awareness and knowledge about heart disease and stroke across racial/ethnic lines, highlighting the need to target educational efforts to black and Hispanic women in particular.
The American Heart Association (AHA) conducted a telephone survey of more than 1,000 women nationwide in 2006 to assess their knowledge and awareness of cardiovascular disease (CVD), related risk factors, and preventive lifestyle changes.
A comparison of the results with those of previous surveys dating back to 1997, when the AHA initiated a national campaign to educate women about heart disease and stroke, revealed several important trends:
(1) overall improvement in awareness over the past decade;
(2) less awareness among black and Hispanic women (two groups at increased risk for CVD) compared to white women (31% and 29% vs. 68%)?a disparity that has not changed appreciably over time;
(3) less knowledge of stroke risk and symptoms than for heart disease; and
(4) persistent confusion among women in general concerning basic strategies for preventing cardiovascular disease.
Coauthors Allison Christian, EdD and Lori Mosca, MD, MPH, PhD, from New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center, and Wayne Rosamond, PhD, and Anthony R. White, PhD, from University of North Carolina and the American Heart Association, respectively, reported their findings in a report entitled, ?Nine-Year Trends and Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Women?s Awareness of Heart Disease and Stroke: An American Heart Association National Study.?
?Our research shows that there is widespread confusion among women about how to lower the risk of heart disease,? says Dr. Lori Mosca, senior author and Director of Preventive Cardiology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. ?We were shocked that the most basic strategies to control heart risk such as diet and cholesterol management were not at all clear to women.?
?While it is encouraging to see that awareness of heart disease as the leading cause of death among women has improved overall, there is clearly a need for continued national educational efforts targeted especially to black and Hispanic women,? says Editor-In-Chief Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women?s Health, Richmond, VA.