Awareness of Heart Disease Prevention Among Patients Attending a Specialist Clinic in Southern Nigeria

The incidence of heart disease is on the increase in Africa yet awareness about the disease and its prevention seem to be very low in many African countries. Two hundred and thirty-six patients attending a medical outpatient clinic in southern Nigeria were randomly selected and a structured questionnaire was administered on them to assess their knowledge of heart disease and its prevention. One hundred and seventy-eight (75.4%) respondents did not know the symptoms of heart disease while 215(91.1%) had never been told about cardiovascular disease prevention by their doctors. A significant number (82%) had checked their blood pressure in the past 18 months while very few had checked their serum lipid levels (14.4%). Less than 50% of respondents engaged in regular exercise. There was no significant difference between level of education of respondents and awareness of heart disease (p=0.561) or education on heart disease prevention. (p=0.251) and also no significant gender difference in the awareness of heart disease prevention (p=0.650). This study shows that awareness of heart disease and its prevention among our patients is still very poor and we need to educate them on the disease and lifestyle modification so that the resulting adverse consequences are averted.