Assessment of knowledge on cardiovascular disease risk factors by postal survey in residents of Małopolska Voivodeship : Małopolska CArdiovascular PReventive Intervention Study (M-CAPRI)

Introduction. Education is a key tool in the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Education programmes require monitoring of their effectiveness. Objectives. 1) to introduce postal screening for the assessment of knowledge on CVD risk factors (RFs) for the Polish population, 2) to assess this knowledge in adult residents of Małopolska Voivodeship, and 3) to assess whether knowledge on RFs is related to age, gender, place of residence, level of education and family history of CVD. Materials and method. Anonymous questionnaires were posted to a random sample of 5,000 residents of Małopolska Voivodeship in Poland. Results were presented as proportions of participants who listed RFs correctly. A series of multiple logistic regression models was used to assess the associations of knowledge on RFs with the potential determinants. Results. 1,126 completed questionnaires were returned. Over 35% of respondents could not list a single RF and 14 % listed only 1–2 RFs. About 40% named 3–5 and only 12% listed 6 or more RFs. About a half of the respondents listed incorrectly from 1–8 characteristics as being associated with higher risk of CVD. In the multivariate analysis, knowledge on RFs was not significantly associated with age. Level of education was the strongest determinant of knowledge. Male rural and small town residents had less knowledge, whereas women with a family history of CVD had more knowledge on some CVD RFs. Conclusions. Using a postal questionnaire for the assessment of knowledge of CVD RFs in the population of Małopolska Voivodeship appeared to have serious limitations due to low participation in the study. Despite this, the results of the study indicate that knowledge on CVD RFs is insufficient. Female gender and higher education were related to more prevalent knowledge on RFs. Family history of CVD was related to better knowledge in women only. Male residents of rural areas and small towns had slightly less knowledge on CVD RFs.