title: General public awareness of heart failure: results of questionnaire survey during Heart Failure Awareness Day 2011.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  General public views about heart failure (HF) alone and in comparison with other chronic conditions are largely unknown; thus we conducted this survey to evaluate general public awareness about HF and HF disease burden relative to common chronic disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional survey during European Heart Failure Awareness Day 2011. People visiting the stands and other activities in 12 Slovenian cities were invited to complete a 14-item questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The analysis included 850 subjects (age 56 ±15 years, 44% men, 55% completed secondary education or higher). Overall, 83% reported to have heard about HF, 58% knew someone with HF, and 35% believed that HF is a normal consequence of ageing. When compared to other chronic diseases, HF was perceived as less important than cancer, myocardial infarction, stroke and diabetes with only 6%, 12%, 7%, and 5% of subjects ranking HF as number 1 in terms of prevalence, cost, quality of life, and survival. A typical patient with HF symptoms was recognized by 30%, which was comparable to the description of myocardial ischemia (33%) and stroke (39%). Primary care physicians (53%) or specialists (52%) would be primary sources of information about HF. If experiencing HF, 83% would prefer their care to be focused on quality of life rather than on survival (14%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Many participants reported to have heard about heart failure but the knowledge was poor and with several misbeliefs. Heart failure was perceived as less important than several other chronic diseases, where cancer appears as a main concern among the general public.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, University Clinic Golnik, Golnik, Slovenia ; Applied Cachexia Research, Division of Cardiology, Charite - Campus Virchow-Klinikum, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Mitja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lainscak
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, General Hospital Ptuj, Ptuj, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Mitja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Letonja
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, General Hospital Celje, Celje, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Dragan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kovacic
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, General Hospital Murska Sobota, Murska Sobota, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Lea Majc
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Hodoscek
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, General Hospital Slovenj Gradec, Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Apolon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marolt
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, General Hospital dr. Franca Derganca, Sempeter pri Gorici, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Cvetka Melihen
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Bartolic
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, General Hospital Jesenice, Jesenice, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Marija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mulej
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Internal Medicine, Department of Cardiology, University Medical Center Maribor, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Meta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Penko
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Topolsica, Topolsica, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Janez
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Poles
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, General Hospital Izola, Izola, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Tinkara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ravnikar
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, General Hospital Brezice, Brezice, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Mojca Savnik
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Iskra
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, General Hospital Slovenj Gradec, Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Cirila Slemenik
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Pusnik
authors.affiliation: Division of Internal Medicine, Department of Vascular Diseases, University Medical Center, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Borut
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jug
keywords: attitudes; awareness; heart failure; knowledge; public health