Awareness and Knowledge of Coronary Heart Disease among the General Population: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the cardiovascular diseases that become the leading cause of death (LCOD) in the United States. Knowledge gaps in CHD and its risk factors are significant obstacles to effective prevention and treatment. People's awareness of CHD and their knowledge of its risk factors could provide crucial information for behavior change in the prevention of CHD. Therefore, the purpose of this review was to examine some of the literature on the knowledge and awareness of CHD in the general population.

Study Design: Systematic Review.

Methodology: Two databases were searched for publications between 2011 and 2021. All studies that were published in English and had components of awareness and knowledge related to CHD were included. A total of 1082 titles and abstracts were screened, 55 full-text articles were assessed and 15 were included for review.

Results: This review used data from a total of 4907 respondents and the results were varied. Studies that were conducted in the same countries might have different results. Men and participants with a college education have better knowledge than their counterparts. Meanwhile, another study shows that the elderly have poor knowledge about CHD. Several studies conducted among university employees showed that the majority of participants had poor knowledge of risk factors, while another study showed good knowledge.

Conclusion: Our review study showed that most of the study participants had low awareness of CHD and knowledge of its risk factors. Family history of CHD, risk factor profile, and some sociodemographic factors have been reported to be associated with the awareness and knowledge of CHD. Providing health information by healthcare professionals can be the right way to increase people’s awareness and knowledge in order to prevent CHD in the future.