Knowledge, Attitude and Practices on Primary Preventive Measures of Cardiovascular Diseases: A Cross-sectional Study in Dschang, West Cameroon

Abstract

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a group of disorders affecting the heart and blood vessels. They are the first cause of death in the world. 80% of these diseases occur in developing countries where the progression is noted, due to insufficient preventive measures for the most part. In Cameroon, CVD is on the increase and is the second leading cause of death in the adult population. Methods: The objective of this study was to assess the level of education of the populations of rural health areas of the Dschang Health District (DHD) on the prevention of CVD. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted within DHD, West Cameroon. The data was collected with help of a questionnaire administered face to face to the participants (672 people) and analyzed with the use of Epi info software. Results: In this study, 672 people were interviewed (62% female). The age varied between 18 and 97 years, with an average age of 38±18 years. Most of the population (88%) knew of the existence of CVD, but the majority (86.4%) had a low level of knowledge of preventive methods (less than three prevention methods). The best-known preventive method was eating less salt (16.2%) and the least known, controlling blood lipids (0.2%). Regarding prevention attitudes, 66.7% of the participants had never expressed a desire for information on CVD before the survey. Half of the population had (50%) had a low level of practice, the most common prevention method was regular physical activity (75%) and the least practiced was lipid control (0.4%). Conclusion: These results show that participants had poor knowledge, inappropriate attitudes and poor practices about CVD prevention; hence the need to establish an awareness program focused on cardiovascular risk factors, prevention methods and CVD screening in this population.