Research
Evaluation of community health screening participants' knowledge of cardiovascular risk factors

https://doi.org/10.1331/JAPhA.2009.08120Get rights and content

Abstract

Objectives

To assess knowledge of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among a group of health screening participants and to compare knowledge between participants with high and low CVD risk.

Design

Cross-sectional pilot study.

Setting

Jonesboro, AR, during June 2007.

Patients

121 adult volunteers participating in a community health screening.

Intervention

34-item self-administered written questionnaire.

Main outcome measures

Ability to identify CVD risk factors and healthy values for CVD risk factors and the differences in these abilities between participants with high and low CVD risk.

Results

Participants demonstrated good knowledge of traditional CVD risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, lack of exercise, and overweight or obese status. Knowledge of other CVD risk factors and healthy values for major CVD risk factors was limited. Participants with high CVD risk were significantly more likely to correctly identify high triglycerides as a CVD risk factor and to identify healthy values for fasting blood glucose and total cholesterol compared with participants with low CVD risk.

Conclusion

Overall, participants lacked knowledge of the risk factor status and healthy values for many CVD risk factors. Participants with high CVD risk may have better knowledge of some CVD risk factors than participants with low CVD risk. These findings highlight the need for more education to improve knowledge in both risk groups.

Section snippets

Objectives

The primary objective of this pilot study was to describe the baseline knowledge of CVD risk factors in a group of health screening participants. The secondary objective was to compare baseline knowledge of CVD risk factors in participants categorized as having high CVD risk with that of participants with low CVD risk based on self-reported health histories.

Methods

A community health screening for CVD risk factors was provided by pharmacists and student pharmacists at a shopping mall in Jonesboro, AR. The health screening was planned by a student professional organization from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Pharmacy as a service project. The student organization prepared and distributed flyers to encourage public participation in the health fair. The health screening offered measurements of lipid profile (total

Results

A total of 123 of the 173 health screening participants (71.1%) agreed to participate in the study. Data from two study participants were removed from the analysis because more than 50% of the questions were left unanswered. Data from the remaining 121 participants' questionnaires were analyzed. The majority of study participants were women (61.2%) and white (84.3%). Age ranged from 19 to 86 years (mean 51.1). Overall, the participants were well educated, with approximately 90% having completed

Discussion

Our study demonstrates that health screening participants can identify traditional CVD risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, lack of exercise, and overweight or obese status. However, few participants can identify other important CVD risk factors, including low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, and abnormal glucose values. Furthermore, most health screening participants could not identify healthy values for commonly assessed CVD risk factors. Participants with high CVD

Limitations

This study has several limitations. These data were gathered from a small group of participants in a single community health screening and may not represent the CVD risk factor knowledge of a more diverse sample. Interestingly, participants in this study were well educated, with more than one-half of participants having completed some college or technical school education. In addition, these participants voluntarily attended a community health screening, which may indicate that they were more

Conclusion

Although community health screenings are frequently conducted to help patients increase their knowledge and awareness of CVD risk factors, data are not routinely gathered to determine the extent of CVD risk factor knowledge possessed by patients or how much they learn from health screenings. This study shows that health screening participants have limited knowledge of common CVD risk factors and their healthy values. Although participants with high CVD risk may have better knowledge of CVD risk

Study questionnaire

References (31)

  • R.M. Clifford et al.

    Effect of a pharmaceutical care program on vascular risk factors in type 2 diabetes: the Fremantle Diabetes Study

    Diabetes Care.

    (2005)
  • L.M. Guirguis et al.

    Diabetes: are pharmacists making an impact on patient outcomes?

    Can Pharm J.

    (2003)
  • P.J. Kiel et al.

    Pharmacist impact on clinical outcomes in a diabetes disease management program via collaborative practice

    Ann Pharmacother.

    (2005)
  • S.S.C. Lee et al.

    Benefits of individualized counseling by the pharmacist on the treatment outcomes of hyperlipidemia in Hong Kong

    J Clin Pharmacol.

    (2004)
  • AD. McCord

    Clinical impact of a pharmacist-managed diabetes mellitus drug therapy management service

    Pharmacotherapy.

    (2006)
  • Cited by (0)

    Disclosure: The authors declare no conflicts of interest or financial interests in any product or service mentioned in this article, including grants, employment, gifts, stock holdings, or honoraria.

    Previous presentation: American Pharmacists Association Annual Meeting & Exposition, San Diego, CA, March 14–17, 2008.

    View full text