Women and heart disease risk

NEW YORK, June 20 (Praxis Press) Women are underdiagnosed and undertreated for heart disease and stroke and their risk factors. To assess knowledge and perceptions of risks of heart disease and stroke among women in the United States, Mosca and colleagues conducted telephone surveys of US households, including an oversample of African American and Hispanic women. Out of 1000 participants, 25 years and older, only 8% of the respondents identified heart disease and stroke as their greatest health concerns; less than 33% identified heart disease as the leading cause of death. Women aged 25 to 44 years indicated they were not well informed about heart disease and stroke, and age influenced knowledge to a greater extent than ethnicity. Most women do not perceive that heart disease is a substantial health concern and report that they are not well informed about their risk.