Cardiovascular Disease Awareness and Health Among Healthcare Workers and the General Population in Bangalore, India:...

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has become a critical public health challenge in India, with a steadily rising burden observed over the past few decades. Notably, the Indian population tends to develop cardiovascular conditions at a younger age compared to other regions. In Bangalore, preliminary studies suggest that baseline knowledge among healthcare workers may still be lacking, and younger populations, including college students and nursing trainees, often demonstrate inconsistent understanding of cardiac risk factors, particularly around nutrition and disease mechanisms.

This cross-sectional study assessed knowledge of cardiac disease and self-reported physical health among the general population and healthcare workers in Bangalore, Karnataka. A survey of 11 questions was adapted from previously validated questionnaires on CVD awareness and health behaviors. Participants were recruited through convenience sampling for healthcare workers and snowball sampling for the general population. For the general population, the survey was disseminated through an online form in Qualtrics, with initial respondents encouraged to share the link to reach a broader audience. Healthcare workers, students, and adjacent staff were recruited from the Sir C.V. Raman Hospital and Rehoboth Nursing School in Bangalore, where paper versions of the survey were distributed. The survey responses were analyzed, and data preprocessing included cleaning the dataset, excluding individuals under the age of 18 or over 65, and recoding categorical variables into binary formats. Chi-square tests were conducted to assess significant differences between healthcare workers and the general population in their survey responses. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered indicative of statistical significance.

From the 152 total responses, participant demographics consisted of healthcare professionals who were predominantly female students aged 18-24, in comparison to the general population, which was mainly individuals aged 45-54. Concerning CVD knowledge and awareness, a significant difference was observed, in which 46 (88.5%) respondents of the general population correctly identified that cholesterol should be checked every one to three years, which differed from the 69 (70.1%) respondents from the healthcare professionals' group who correctly identified the answer. In the assessment of one's own health, 31 (47.7%) participants of healthcare professionals reported falling ill more than the average person, in contrast to the 10 (25%) participants of the general population. Physical activity levels were also higher in the general population, with 24 (50%) of the group exercising more than 120 minutes per week, compared to just 10 (10.4%) participants from the healthcare professionals' group.

The disparity in the results regarding cardiovascular health knowledge between healthcare workers and the general population raises concerns about a possible gap in current healthcare education. Our study was able to add to the current literature surrounding both the current knowledge base regarding cardiovascular health in Bangalore and how medical and health knowledge does not equate to healthier lifestyle practices among healthcare workers.