Knowledge of Overweight Sri Lankan Adults about Heart Disease

Background: Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death in Sri Lanka. One of the major risk factor for developing heart disease is obesity. Informed decisionsto prevent heart disease depend on awareness of riskfactors and knowledge. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the level of knowledge on heart disease among overweight Sri Lankan adults who come for weight loss programme. Design: Structured questionnaire which was compiled from existing questionnaire used in other studies on heart disease was given to 138 number of clients age between 18-70 years attending the VLCC healthcare center, Colombo 7 from November 2011 to January 2012. Data were analyzed using MINITAB 14 version. Chi-squared, two sample t-test and 1-way analysis of variance were used to compare the groups. The significant level was set at p < 0.05. Descriptive statistics were compared by age, gender, educational level, including body mass index. Result: Mean age [Standard Deviation (SD)] was 46.5 (12.3) years for male and 39.1 (11.4) for female respectively. Mean weight was 96.3kg (17.3) in men and 80.2kg (13.3) in women. Some aspects of heart disease (Dietary knowledge) were well known among clients. Knowledge of certain other important factors (symptoms, epidemiology, and risk factors) was inconsistent among respondents. A mere 22% of our study population had a good level of knowledge. However, the mean knowledge was significantly difference among sexes (p= 0.003). Significantly higher knowledge scores were found in female (F= 8.11, p= 0.005) these with the higher education level (F= 6.04, p= 0.03). No significant difference was however, evident in the means score for obesity categories. Conclusion: Our finding highlights the lack of good level of knowledge on heart disease among subjects. There is urgent need for aggressive and targeted educational programme for overweight population.