Atherosclerosis- Preventing CVD by Increasing Awareness Regarding Risk Factors.

Nothing to disclose. None. Cardiovascular disease is am-ong one of the most prevalent and devastating health problems in the world. According to CDC foundation (2019), Americans suffer 1.5 million heart attacks and strokes each year which contributes more than $320 billion in annual healthcare costs and lost productivity caused by cardiovascular disease. Social determinants have great impact on cardiovascular disease. In comparison to men, heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States, killing 289,758 women, that's about 1 in every 4 female deaths (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018). In addition, non-Hispanic white men have the highest prevalence of CVD at 8.5 percent, followed by non-Hispanic black men at 7.9 percent and Mexican-American men at 6.3 percent (Institute of Medicine, 2011). Among Hispanic women, heart disease and cancer cause roughly the same number of deaths each year (Institute of Medicine, 2011). About 5.8% of all white women, 7.6% of black women, and 5.6% of Mexican-American women have coronary heart disease (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). Moreover, CVD is the leading cause of non-communicable morbidity and mortality among low-income and middle-income countries, accounting for almost 25% of total deaths and, by the year 2030, is projected to be the leading cause of death worldwide (Keita et al, 2014). Health literacy also has great impact on medical cost. According to Hirani & Newman (2005), lack of literacy causes extra health care costs every year. Out of 90 million people in the USA, with less than adequate health literacy skills, 70 million suffer from CVD (Hirani & Newman, 2005). Since prevalence of CVD risk factor is increasing worldwide, it is very important to focus on understanding the cause of the cause to help increase awareness of risk factors. Hypertension, hyperlipedemia, smoking, diabetes, and obesity are major risk factors for chronic diseases including coronary heart disease (CHD). Life style modifications are a key to prevent heart issues. Knowledge is power, lack of awareness regarding risk factors increases the prevalence of this disease. According to the American Heart Association (2018), the more risk factors, the higher your chance of developing coronary heart disease. It is essential to handle these risks as early as possible. Angina, heart attacks, stroke, peripheral artery disease, carotid stenosis, renal stenosis are major complications of CVD. The purpose of this project was to implement a series of educational sessions to increase awareness regarding risk factor modification to decrease rate of CVD. The population targeted was a local population from a community church. The program focused on developing interventions focused on prevention to reduce the long-term complications of CVD for people who already have CVD and also for thosewho are high risk. Patient knowledge regarding risk factors of heart disease was measured by using the Heart Disease Questionnaire before and after the educational intervention. It was originally developed and validated by Bergman (2011) and colleagues. It is a 30-item questionnaire to measure heart disease knowledge specifically diet, risk factors, medical knowledge, epidemiology, and CVD symptoms. The questionnaire was found to have good internal consistency, determined through calculation of Cronbach's alpha scores of 0.697, and 0.533 for the pre-and post tests, respectively. The educational material was from the American Heart Association, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and National Lipid Association. IBM SPSS statistics software, version 21 was used for analysis. Changes in patient knowledge score as well as descriptive statistics of the patient population and their feedback on the educational intervention was obtained. There was a statistically significant increase in patient CVD knowledge, mean scores of 1.813 points, from a pre-test score of 5.703 (SD= 2.514) to a post-test score of 7. 444 (SD =1.108) following the educational intervention (t (33) = 5.740, p <.001). The educational intervention was found to be equally effective for both male and females, with mean score of 1.965 for females and 1. 1.765 for male (t (33)=.582, p =.525). Along with change in knowledge, change in participant attitude and behavior is noticed. The majority (83%) of participants claimed the talk show in particular was helpful in facilitating their understanding of CVD risk factors, and 67.3% of participants claimed that hands on sessions like yoga classes and cooking challenges provided good insight and was helpful in making lifestyle changes to reduce risk of CVD. The results of this project supports that educational sessions are helpful to prevent CVD. The participants not only liked the educational sessions but they really loved the different modes of teaching. The results of the project supports the efficacy of educational methods especially talk shows, yoga classes and cooking challenges. This not only increased their knowledge level but they have learned how to implement diet and exercise in their routine life. Interestingly, there were no statistically significant difference in change in knowledge scores amongst any of the demographic variables, including age, sex, education, race, type of insurance, and reason for medical visit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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