Abstract 10094: Perception of Cardiovascular Disease in Female Health Care Workers and Urgent Opportunity Gaps for Health Promotion

Abstract

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the largest killer in women worldwide, yet minority of GPs and less than 50% of Cardiologists feel well prepared for risk assessment in women. Women have historically been under-represented in many major CV clinical trials. The percentage of women identifying CVD as leading cause of death (LCOD) has declined from 64% in 2009 to 43% in 2019, according to surveys in the United States. In 2020, we conducted the largest single-centre survey in the United Kingdom to explore the perceptions of CVD in female healthcare workforce in North-West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust. Methods: In September 2020, a total of 620 female healthcare workers in our institute completed an online questionnaire on health concerns, LCOD in women, screening/risk factors for CVD, and perceived personal risk status. There were 21 questions containing binary, ranked and best single choice answers which took approximately 15-minutes to complete. Results: Only 51% respondents were aware of CVD as the LCOD in women and 37% correctly identified lifetime incidence of CVD as one-in-three. Sixty-five percent believed to be at risk of CVD but only 18% had CVD as their biggest health concern. Three-quarters correctly identified CVD risk factors, but 74%, 59% and 40% were not aware of their cholesterol, diabetic status and BP, respectively. CVD screening was deemed necessary aged more than 40 by 31%, and aged more than 50 by 40%. Ninety-percent had never been screened for CVD. One-in-two believed a woman was more likely to survive a heart attack at the age of 60 compared to a man of similar age. Only 12% correctly indicated that BP below 120/80mmHg was normal and 57% were not aware of effects of HRT on CVD. Lastly, 82% did not feel well informed about their CV health. Conclusions: The survey did not include baseline demographics to associate age and social/ethnical background with the responses, nevertheless, there are significant gaps in knowledge and misconception about CVD in women among female healthcare workers. This study highlights opportunities for urgent education to bring more screening programmes into practice through major stakeholders i.e. local councils, GPs and Cardiologists.