THE PUBLIC VIEW ON CARDIOVASCULAR RISK-FACTORS AND CHANGES IN LIFE-STYLE

Citation
B. Danielsson et H. Aberg, THE PUBLIC VIEW ON CARDIOVASCULAR RISK-FACTORS AND CHANGES IN LIFE-STYLE, Scandinavian journal of primary health care, 13(1), 1995, pp. 74-80
Citations number
17
Language
INGLESE
art.tipo
Article
Categorie Soggetti
Medicine, General & Internal
ISSN journal
0281-3432
Volume
13
Issue
1
Year of publication
1995
Pages
74 - 80
Database
ISI
SICI code
0281-3432(1995)13:1<74:TPVOCR>2.0.ZU;2-0
Abstract
Objective - To investigate the public knowledge of cardiovascular risk factors including hyperlipidaemia, and attitudes to changes in lifest yle and to the role of the primary health care in preventive work. Des ign - Postal questionnaire. Setting - A physically defined area in sou th-western Stockholm. Subjects - 1000 randomly selected individuals of both sexes 40 to 64 years, stratified into 5-year groups. Main outcom e measures - Knowledge of and attitudes to cardiovascular risk factors . Contact with the primary health care and expectancy of physicians' i nterest in patients' lifestyles. Results - Response rate was 75%. The awareness of cardiovascular risk factors was high, but only 51% knew w hat constitutes healthy food, and two thirds doubted that they could c hange their eating habits. Forty-eight percent had visited the primary health care during the previous year. Eighty-four percent thought tha t the physicians should know about their patients' smoking, 83% about drinking habits, and 75% about eating habits. Physicians were expected to spend 40% of their time on preventive work. Only 26% believed that press information about hyperlipidaemia and heart disease did more go od than harm. Conclusion - Knowledge was good about causative cardiova scular risk factors, but poor about healthy eating. Physicians were ex pected to have an interest in patients' lifestyle and in prevention. T his type of knowledge is important for preventive work.