Middle-aged women's awareness of cholesterol as a risk factor: Results from a national survey of Korean Middle-aged Women's Health Awareness (KomWHA) study
Received 21 March 2009; received in revised form 21 July 2009; accepted 5 September 2009.
Abstract
Background
Dyslipidemia, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), is more prevalent in middle-aged women than in men of the same age in Korea. This study, the first national survey that focused on cholesterol in Korean women, aimed to: (1) assess their awareness and knowledge of cholesterol, (2) evaluate their risk reduction behavior, and (3) examine differences in these variables among geographical regions in Korea.
Methods
A questionnaire survey study was conducted in a randomly selected national sample of 1304 Korean women, aged 40–64 years in 3 geographic regions.
Results
High cholesterol was identified as a cause of CVD by 54.4% of respondents, however, 95.4% did not know their own values. Only 4.1% of respondents were aware of desirable level of total cholesterol. Eight percent of respondents perceived correctly the meaning of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) as good cholesterol. And 32.9% had cholesterol check at least once a year. No significant regional differences were found in women's awareness and knowledge on cholesterol. No smoking (93.6%), low salt diet (52.5%) and weight management (50.6%) were the most prevalent risk reduction behaviors. Women in the rural area performed less risk reduction behaviors than those in urban area.
Conclusions
Given the low level of awareness and knowledge about cholesterol in these women, nurses need to increase their education about cholesterol and risk reduction behaviors of CVD for middle-aged Korean women, particularly those in rural area. To resolve identified disparities in women's risk reduction behaviors between the rural and urban area, a national-level health policy can result in a successful effort to promote women's awareness of cholesterol and risk reduction behaviors for the cardiovascular health of the public.
aYonsei University College of Nursing, Nursing Policy and Research Institute, Biobehavioral Research Center, 250 Seongsanno, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-752, Republic of Korea
bYonsei Institute of Sport, Physical Education and Leisure Studies, Republic of Korea
cYonsei University College of Medicine, Cardiovascular Center, Republic of Korea
dUniversity of Illinois at Chicago, College of Nursing, United States
ABSTRACT