Abstract Introduction Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is frequently underdiagnosed in women and remains the leading cause of death in this population, with increased risk following menopause. Understanding the level of knowledge and awareness regarding CVD and cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) in postmenopausal women is crucial for developing effective prevention and management strategies. Purpose This study aimed to assess cardiovascular health literacy in a Portuguese postmenopausal population. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey with postmenopausal women recruited during a cardiovascular screening event in Portugal (May 2023). Participants completed an adapted validated questionnaire evaluating awareness of CVD risk, recognition of symptoms and signs, as well as knowledge regarding the causes, prevention, and appropriate response to CVD. The primary outcome was cardiovascular health literacy; secondary outcome included identifying predictors of health literacy. Statistical analyses were conducted with appropriate tests for data distribution. Results We included 127 post menopausal women with a mean age of 65±9 years. The most common CVRF was hypertension (55.3%), followed by dyslipidaemia (13.0%) and diabetes (13.0%). Only 11.4% were current smokers, and 36.6% reported daily alcohol consumption. Economic issues were the most frequently cited barrier to maintaining a healthy lifestyle (47.5%), followed by the perception of already having a healthy lifestyle (43.3%) and lack of time (29.2%). 21.5% had a Bachelor’s degree or higher education level and the majority resided in urban areas (92.1%). Concerning CVD literacy, most women (75.2%) found it easy to obtain information about CVD in women and 67.8% reported hearing about CVD within the past year. However, only 14% felt well informed on the topic. Awareness of CVD was limited, with 68.3% of participants reporting being unaware or having little awareness. When assessing knowledge about CVD in women, only 36.5% could correctly identify acute myocardial infarction symptoms. Although 67.5% were aware of the increased CVD risk associated with the postmenopausal period, only 27.2% recognized CVD as the leading cause of death among women, and only 26.9% acknowledged worse cardiovascular outcomes in women (see Table 1). Lower awareness of CVD in women was significantly associated with lower educational levels (p = 0.026) and perceived difficulty in obtaining information about CVD in women (p = 0.001). Conversely, greater awareness of CVD was linked to better knowledge of CVD prevention (p = 0.025) and of cardiovascular risk factors (p = 0.013). Conclusion Our study underscores the need to enhance CVD literacy and awareness among postmenopausal women, particularly in those with lower education levels. Targeted interventions addressing these knowledge gaps could play a crucial role in empowering women and improving awareness and health outcomes.For image description, please refer to the figure legend and surrounding text.
Pohle et al. (Mon,) studied this question.