Patients in Nablus District

Abstract :

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is no. 1  killer in the world.  The majority of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is caused by risk factors that can be controlled, treated or modified, such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, overweight/obesity, tobacco use , lack of physical activity and diabetes. However, there are also some major CVD risk factors that cannot be controlled. In Palestinian society there is no studies about the level of knowledge of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and related diseases, so we developed a questionnaire to measure it , which containing several questions, then we  analyzed the answer of patients if it’s true or wrong , to measure the level  knowledge for each patient and give the weight mark for each question, according on this study , And the results of this questionnaire showed us that 27.2% of the patients do not know  that they have heart disease, and 54% of them do not believe that elderly people are at a higher risk for heart diseases , and 39.5 % of them think that  Coronary heart diseases can’t be prevented ,25% of them don’t know that  the smoking is  a preventable cause of death and diseases in their  country , 22%  thought that smoking isn’t a risk factor for heart disease , 17%  don’t know that stop smoking reduces the risk of heart disease , 24 % said  that there isn’t address two types of fruit and three varieties of vegetables a day , 42% thought that eating red meat more than three times a week isn’t  a threat , 16  % of patient don’t know Salty food increases blood pressure , 25 % of patient don’t think that  Regular exercise reduces risk of heart disease , 16 % of them thought that the risk can be reduced by exercising only in a gym , 25 % of patient   don’t think  that the slow walking and wandering are also considered as exercise , 16% of them don’t know that the high blood pressure is a risk factor for heart disease , 17% of them don’t  know that the blood pressure control reduces the risk of heart disease , 20% of them thought that the hypertension medication should be used for a lifetime ,  33% don’t  know that the high cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease , 49 % of paitient thought that the risk of heart disease if good (HDL) , cholesterol is high , 29 %  of them don’t know that the risk of heart disease if bad (LDL) cholesterol is high , 16 %  thought  that every person with high cholesterol level given medicine , 20% of them don’t think  that the diabetes is a risk factor for heart disease and  34 % of patient  don’t  thought that the risk can be reduced in diabetic patients with glucose control .