Men of low socio-economic and educational level possess pronounced deficient knowledge about the risk factors related to coronary heart disease.
BACKGROUND
The aim of the present study was to determine whether certain background factors such as gender, education and social status were associated with an individual's knowledge of coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors.


METHODS
A questionnaire survey.


METHODS
A questionnaire survey designed to evaluate participants' general knowledge about the risk factors for CHD was used. A total of 1011 50-year-old individuals (457 men and 554 women) from 34 Health Care Centers participated in the study.


RESULTS
Knowledge about CHD risk factors was significantly poorer in men than in women. Low education and low socio-economic status were other factors related to poor knowledge of CHD risk factors.


CONCLUSIONS
This study showed that men with low educational level and low socio-economic status had inadequate information about the risk factors involved in CHD.
Andersson
P
P
Department of Caring Science, Mälardalen University, Västerås, Sweden. per.andersson@mdh.se
Leppert
J
J
D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden