Coronary heart disease knowledge tool for women.
OBJECTIVE
To develop a tool that measures coronary heart disease (CHD) knowledge specifically for women.


METHODS
The new CHD knowledge tool, based on previous surveys of women's CHD knowledge, has 25 multiple-choice questions. An expert panel evaluated content and face validity. The tool was pilot tested in women without CHD, who were admitted to a Chest Pain Center. The tool was subsequently administered to laywomen and female cardiovascular nurses to evaluate its validity and reliability. The sample included 49 women as the control group (Group 1), 23 cardiovascular nurses as a known group (Group 2), and 22 women with an educational program as the treatment group (Group 3). Knowledge of women in Group 1 was compared with Groups 2 and 3 in known group and predictive validity tests.


CONCLUSIONS
The new tool demonstrates good validity and reliability to measure CHD knowledge in women.


CONCLUSIONS
Women continue to have low CHD knowledge, and nurse practitioners should provide education to improve women's CHD knowledge as a strategy to promote healthy lifestyle practices and CHD risk prevention. The new tool can be utilized in future research to measure women's CHD knowledge.
St. Louis University School of Nursing, St. Louis, Missouri 63104, USA. jthanava@slu.edu
Joanne L
JL
Thanavaro
Samer
S
Thanavaro
Timothy
T
Delicath
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015146:Midwestern United States; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012307:Risk Factors; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014930:Women / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology