Select Journal or Resource JAMA & Archives Home JAMA Archives of   Dermatology   Facial Plastic Surgery   Family Medicine (1992-2000)   General Psychiatry   Internal Medicine   Neurology   Neurology and Psychiatry (1919-1959)   Ophthalmology   Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery   Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine   Surgery JAMA-français JAMA & Archives CME Calendar of Events JAMA Career Center For The Media JAMAevidence Peer Review Congress Student JAMA (1998-2004)

	Institution: STANFORD Univ Med Center  | My Account | E-mail Alerts | Access Rights | Sign In Vol. 9 No. 6, June 2000   Archives  •  Online Features Original Contribution  This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (97)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related articles  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Women's Health  • Women's Health, Other  • Alert me on articles by topic Awareness, Perception, and Knowledge of Heart Disease Risk and Prevention Among Women in the United States Lori Mosca, MD, MPH, PhD; Wanda K. Jones, DrPH; Kathleen B. King, PhD, RN; Pamela Ouyang, MD; Rita F. Redberg, MD, MSc; Martha N. Hill, PhD, RN; for the American Heart Association Women's Heart Disease and Stroke Campaign Task Force Arch Fam Med. 2000;9:506-515. Context  One of 2 women in the United States dies of heart disease or stroke, yet women are underdiagnosed and undertreated for these diseases and their risk factors. Informed decisions to prevent heart disease and stroke depend on awareness of risk factors and knowledge of behaviors to prevent or detect these diseases. Objective  Assess (1) knowledge of risks of heart disease and stroke and (2) perceptions of heart disease and its prevention among women in the United States. Design and Setting  Telephone survey conducted in 1997 of US households, including an oversample of African American and Hispanic women. Participants  One thousand respondents 25 years or older; 65.8% white, 13.0% African American, and 12.6% Hispanic. Main Outcome Measures  Knowledge of heart disease and stroke risks, perceptions of heart disease, and knowledge of symptoms and preventive measures. Results  Only 8% of the respondents identified heart disease and stroke as their greatest health concerns; less than 33% identified heart disease as the leading cause of death. More women aged 25 to 44 years identified breast cancer as the leading cause of death than women 65 years or older. Women aged 25 to 44 years indicated they were not well informed about heart disease and stroke. Although 90% of the women reported that they would like to discuss heart disease or risk reduction with their physicians, more than 70% reported that they had not. Conclusions  Most women do not perceive that heart disease is a substantial health concern and report that they are not well informed about their risk. Age influenced knowledge to a greater extent than ethnicity. Programs directed at young women that address the effects of lifestyle behaviors on long-term health are needed. Better communication between physicians and patients is also warranted. From the New York-Presbyterian Hospital of Columbia and Cornell Universities, New York (Dr Mosca); the US Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC (Dr Jones); the University of Rochester School of Nursing, Rochester, NY (Dr King); Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md (Drs Ouyang and Hill); and the University of California at San Francisco (Dr Redberg). RELATED ARTICLES Heart Disease Prevention in US Women: There Is More Work to Be Done Sharon A. Jackson and Gregory L. Burke Arch Fam Med. 2000;9(6):516-517. FULL TEXT   The Archives of Family Medicine Continuing Medical Education Program Arch Fam Med. 2000;9(6):551-552. FULL TEXT   THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES Puerto Rican Women's Perceptions of Heart Disease Risk Lange et al. Clin Nurs Res 2009;18:291-306. ABSTRACT   Perception of Risk and Knowledge of Risk Factors in Women at High Risk for Stroke Dearborn and McCullough Stroke 2009;40:1181-1186. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT   Women's Vascular Health Hodson Obstet Med 2008;1:102-102. FULL TEXT   Church and Spirituality in the Lives of the African American Community Giger et al. J Transcult Nurs 2008;19:375-383. ABSTRACT   Prevention of Heart Failure: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association Councils on Epidemiology and Prevention, Clinical Cardiology, Cardiovascular Nursing, and High Blood Pressure Research; Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Interdisciplinary Working Group; and Functional Genomics and Translational Biology Interdisciplinary Working Group Schocken et al. Circulation 2008;117:2544-2565. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT   Gender Disparities in Blood Pressure Control and Cardiovascular Care in a National Sample of Ambulatory Care Visits Keyhani et al. Hypertension 2008;51:1149-1155. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT   A midlife stroke surge among women in the United States Towfighi et al. Neurology 2007;69:1898-1904. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT   Gaps in Public Knowledge of Peripheral Arterial Disease: The First National PAD Public Awareness Survey Hirsch et al. Circulation 2007;116:2086-2094. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT   Management of cardiovascular risk in the peri-menopausal woman: a consensus statement of European cardiologists and gynaecologists Collins et al. Eur Heart J 2007;28:2028-2040. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT   Outcomes and Optimal Antithrombotic Therapy in Women Undergoing Fibrinolysis for ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction Mega et al. Circulation 2007;115:2822-2828. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT   Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics--2007 Update: A Report From the American Heart Association Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee Rosamond et al. Circulation 2007;115:e69-e171. FULL TEXT   Cardiovascular Disease Risk Perception and Knowledge: A Comparison of Hispanic and White College Students in a Hispanic-Serving Institution McMahan et al. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education 2007;6:5-18. ABSTRACT   Improving outcomes for women with myocardial infarction. Greenland and Gulati Arch Intern Med 2006;166:1162-1163. FULL TEXT   Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics--2006 Update: A Report From the American Heart Association Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee Thom et al. Circulation 2006;113:e85-e151. FULL TEXT   Benefits of Standardized Diabetes and Hypertension Screening Forms at Community Screening Events Graham et al. Health Promot Pract 2006;7:26-33. ABSTRACT   Perceived Versus Actual Risk for Hypertension and Diabetes in the African American Community Graham et al. Health Promot Pract 2006;7:34-46. ABSTRACT   Gender-Related Differences in the Clinical Presentation and Outcome of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Olivotto et al. J Am Coll Cardiol 2005;46:480-487. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT   American Heart Association and American Stroke Association National Survey of Stroke Risk Awareness Among Women Ferris et al. Circulation 2005;111:1321-1326. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT   Sex Differences in Quality of Health Care Related to Ischemic Heart Disease Prevention in Patients With Diabetes: The Translating Research Into Action for Diabetes (TRIAD) study, 2000-2001 Ferrara et al. Diabetes Care 2004;27:2974-2976. FULL TEXT   Addressing Cardiovascular Disease in Women: Focus on Dyslipidemia Meagher J Am Board Fam Med 2004;17:424-437. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT   Cardiac rehabilitation after myocardial infarction in the community Witt et al. J Am Coll Cardiol 2004;44:988-996. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT   Tracking Women's Awareness of Heart Disease: An American Heart Association National Study Mosca et al. Circulation 2004;109:573-579. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT   Factors associated with coronary artery calcification in young female patients with SLE Manger et al. Ann Rheum Dis 2003;62:846-850. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT   Do Perceptions of Risk and Quality of Life Affect Use of Hormone Replacement Therapy by Postmenopausal Women? Scheid et al. J Am Board Fam Med 2003;16:270-277. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT   Sudden Cardiac Death in the United States, 1989 to 1998 Zheng et al. Circulation 2001;104:2158-2163. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT   An Evaluation of Choose to Move 1999: An American Heart Association Physical Activity Program for Women Koffman et al. Arch Intern Med 2001;161:2193-2199. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT   Hormone Replacement Therapy and Cardiovascular Disease: A Statement for Healthcare Professionals From the American Heart Association Mosca et al. Circulation 2001;104:499-503. FULL TEXT   Heart Disease Prevention in US Women: There Is More Work to Be Done Jackson and Burke Arch Fam Med 2000;9:516-517. FULL TEXT   HOME | CURRENT ISSUE | PAST ISSUES | TOPIC COLLECTIONS | CME | PHYSICIAN JOBS | HELP CONDITIONS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US | SITE MAP   © 2000 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.