• Am J Prev Med · Apr 2010

    Knowledge gaps and misconceptions about coronary heart disease among U.S. South Asians.

    • Namratha R Kandula, Manasi A Tirodkar, Diane S Lauderdale, Neerja R Khurana, Gregory Makoul, and David W Baker.
    • Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA. n-kandula@northwestern.edu
    • Am J Prev Med. 2010 Apr 1; 38 (4): 439442439-42.

    BackgroundAlthough South Asians are at higher risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) than most other U.S. racial/ethnic groups, very little research has addressed this disparity.PurposeAs a first step in developing culturally targeted CHD prevention messages for this rapidly growing community, this study examined South Asians' knowledge and beliefs about CHD.MethodsAnalyses, conducted in 2009, were based on data collected from January to July 2008 in a cross-sectional study population of 270 South Asian adults in Illinois. Interviews were conducted in English, Hindi, or Urdu using a standardized questionnaire. Multivariate regression models were used to examine the associations between sociodemographics and CHD knowledge and attitudes about preventability.ResultsEighty-one percent of respondents had one or more CHD risk factors. Most participants (89%) said they knew little or nothing about CHD. Stress was the most frequently mentioned risk factor (44%). Few mentioned controlling blood pressure (11%); cholesterol (10%); and diabetes (5%) for prevention. Fifty-three percent said that heart attacks are not preventable. Low education level, being interviewed in Urdu or Hindi, and low level of acculturation were associated with less knowledge and believing that CHD is not preventable.ConclusionsA majority of South Asians in this study believed that CHD is not preventable and had low awareness of modifiable risk factors. As a first step, CHD education should target the knowledge gaps that may affect risk factor control and behavior change. Educational messages may need to be somewhat different for subgroups (e.g., by education and language) to be maximally effective.2010 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

      Pubmed     Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…