Korean immigrants' knowledge of heart attack symptoms and risk factors.
OBJECTIVE
This study assessed the knowledge of heart attack symptoms and risk factors in a convenience sample of Korean immigrants.


METHODS
A total of 116 Korean immigrants in a Midwestern metropolitan area were recruited through Korean churches and markets. Knowledge was assessed using both open-ended questions and a structured questionnaire. Latent class cluster analysis and Chi-square tests were used to analyze the data.


RESULTS
About 76% of the sample had at least one self-reported risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Using an open-ended question, the majority of subjects could only identify one symptom. In the structured questionnaire, subjects identified a mean of 5 out of 10 heart attack symptoms and a mean of 5 out of 9 heart attack risk factors. Latent class cluster analysis showed that subjects clustered into two groups for both risk factors and symptoms: a high knowledge group and a low knowledge group. Subjects who clustered into the risk factor low knowledge group (48%) were more likely than the risk factor high knowledge group to be older than 65 years, to have lower education, to not know to use 911 when a heart attack occurred, and to not have a family history of heart attack.


CONCLUSIONS
Korean immigrants' knowledge of heart attack symptoms and risk factors was variable, ranging from high to very low. Education should be focused on those at highest risk for a heart attack, which includes the elderly and those with risk factors.
Hwang
Seon Y
SY
University of Illinois, 845 S. Damen Ave. (MC 802), Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
Ryan
Catherine J
CJ
Zerwic
Julie Johnson
JJ
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015146:Midwestern United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012307:Risk Factors; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires