Awareness Regarding Heart Diseases among Middle Aged Adults in a Rural Area of Rupandehi District

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number one cause of death globally. Lack of awareness about CVDs risk can lead to delays in seeking treatment and increased risk for sudden death. This study was conducted to assess the awareness on heart diseases among middle‑aged adults in a rural area of Rupandehi district, Nepal. Descriptive cross‑sectional study was conducted among 107 middle‑aged adults of Shudhodhan rural municipality, Rupandehi district. The samples were selected by non‑probability purposive sampling technique. Pretested and pre validated semi‑structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The data was analyzed using SPSS 16.0 version. More than half of the respondents (55.14%) had high level awareness on heart disease. About 71.03% had family history of heart diseases. Regarding risk factors of heart diseases cent percent respondents were aware of alcoholism,98.13% were aware of smoking, 47.66% were aware of family history and 14.02% were aware of menopause. 99.07% respondents were aware of elevated blood pressure and chest pain as cardinal symptoms of heart diseases. The study reveals that respondents had low awareness on family history as risk factor of heart diseases whereas there is statistically significant association between family history of respondents and level of awareness regarding heart disease (p=0.002). Respondents (14.02%) also had low awareness on lifestyle changes with medicines as management of heart disease. Hence it is necessary to educate people about heart diseases risk factors and lifestyle changes for management and prevention of heart diseases.