Heart disease has traditionally been thought of as a man’s disease, but in fact heart disease is the number one killer of women world-wide. We sought to determine the awareness of women in Israel, including minorities, regarding the risk of heart disease in women.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional telephone survey of 1000 women in Israel who were at least 25 years of age to assess their awareness, knowledge, and perceptions of CVD risk and prevention. Oversampling was performed in the Arab and Ultra-Orthodox minorities (600 women in the general survey, 200 women in each subgroup) in order to accurately reflect awareness in these subpopulations. The study was designed to result in a margin of error of ≈5.0%. Potential participants were identified through random sampling of landline and mobile telephone numbers within identified geographic districts. Geographic districts were chosen to reflect an accurate socio-demographic sampling of the Israeli population. According to the interviewees' mother tongue, the survey was conducted in Hebrew, Arabic, or Russian.
Structured questionnaires were used to collect demographic information, and included questions about leading causes of death in women, warning signs of heart attack, and what to do first if experiencing warning signs of heart attack.
Questions were based on the Awareness of Heart Disease in Women American Heart Association National Survery.
Results: Data will be presented regarding awareness of women of the risk of heart disease and the signs and symptoms of heart disease, as well as cardiovascular risk factors and health behaviors. Comparison will be made between the general population and minorities, and between the results of the Israeli survey and the American Survey.
Conclusions: Awareness of heart disease in women in Israel is suboptimal. Awareness campaigns conducted in the US have been shown to be effective in increasing awareness, with an associated decrease in cardiovascular mortality in women, and should be considered in Israel. Awareness efforts should incorporate culturally relevant components into messaging.
