A Comparison of Actual Cardiovascular Disease Risks to the Perceptions of Middle-aged Men: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: To determine the actual cardiovascular diseases risk and to compare it with the perceived risk in 40-65 years old men. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study in a population determined to be 21.039 men and sample consisted of 400 men. The actual cardiovascular diseases risks of these respondents were calculated using HeartScore, classified as low, moderate, high, or very high. The respondents’ perception of their cardiovascular disease’s risks was categorized as wrong optimists/pessimists and realists. We used multivariate logistic regression models to determine the relationships between perceived cardiovascular diseases risk and independent variables (age, diabetes, hypertension, etc.). Required ethics committee and institutional permissions were obtained for the duly conduct of the study. Results: It was determined in our study that while 8.3% (n=33) of the men had a high-risk level for cardiovascular disease, 52.5% (n=210) had a very high level. Forty-eight percent of the participants perceive their CVD risks to be lower than they are and 23.8% to perceive it higher than they are. Correct estimation rate of CVD risk was 28.2%. The variables affecting the actual cardiovascular diseases risk were diastolic blood pressure, body mass index, and level of physical activity. 13.3% (n=53) of respondents perceived their cardiovascular diseases risks as high and 8% (n=32) as very high. The variables affecting an incorrect perceived cardiovascular diseases risk are being 61-65 years of age (odds ratio=0.34, 95% confidence interval: 0.16-0.73) and a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (odds ratio=0.45, 95% confidence interval: 0.20-0.99). Conclusion: We observed that more than half of the residents were at a very high level of risk for cardiovascular disease, and approximately one out of every two respondents perceived their risk of cardiovascular disease to be lower than the actual risk. It is recommended risk reducing behaviors be developed and awareness of risk be raised.