title: The DHHS Office on Women's Health Initiative to Improve Women's Heart Health: focus on knowledge and awareness among women with cardiometabolic risk factors.
abstract: Abstract Background: The diversity of the U.S. population and disparities in the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) require that public health education strategies must target women and racial/ethnic minority groups to reduce their CVD risk factors, particularly in high-risk communities, such as women with the metabolic syndrome (MS).
  
  
  METHODS
  The data reported here were based on a cross-sectional face-to-face survey of women recruited from four participating sites as part of the national intervention program, Improving, Enhancing and Evaluating Outcomes of Comprehensive Heart Care in High-Risk Women. Measures included baseline characteristics, sociodemographics, CVD related-knowledge and awareness, and Framingham risk score (FRS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 443 of 698 women (63.5%) with one or more risk factors for the MS: non-Hispanic white (NHW), 51.5%; non-Hispanic black (NHB), 21.0%; Hispanic, 22.6%. Greater frequencies of MS occurred among Hispanic women (p<0.0001), those with less than a high school education (70.0%) (p<0.0001), Medicaid recipients (57.8%) (p<0.0001), and urbanites (43.3%) (p<0.001). Fewer participants with MS (62.6%) knew the leading cause of death compared to those without MS (72.1%) (p<0.0001). MS was associated with a lack of knowledge of the composite of knowing the symptoms of a heart attack plus the need to call 911 (odds ratio [OR] 0.41, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.17-0.97, p=0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Current strategies to decrease CVD risk are built on educating the public about traditional factors, including hypertension, smoking, and elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). An opportunity to broaden the scope for risk reduction among women with cardiometabolic risk derives from the observation that women with the MS have lower knowledge about CVD as the leading cause of death, the symptoms of a heart attack, and the ideal option for managing a CVD emergency.
authors.affiliation: Women's Cardiovascular Program, Division of Cardiology, Center for Women's Health, Columbia University, 622 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, USA. evg1@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Elsa-Grace V
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Giardina
authors.forename: Robert R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Sciacca
authors.forename: JoAnne M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Foody
authors.forename: Gail
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: D'Onofrio
authors.forename: Amparo C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Villablanca
authors.forename: Shantelle
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leatherwood
authors.forename: Anne L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Suzanne G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Haynes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014483:United States Dept. of Health and Human Services; D016387:Women's Health; D055815:Young Adult