Cardiovascular Disease Knowledge Amongst Jordanian Population: A Cross-Sectional Study

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in both developed and developing countries, causing significant healthcare system disruptions due to inadequate access, high costs, and growing complications. This study aims to examine cardiovascular knowledge comprehensively among the Jordanian population.

A descriptive cross-sectional design was used to recruit a total of 1,050 participants. A convenience sampling approach was used to gather data from accessible participants who meet the study criteria. A self-administered questionnaire was used to comprehensively assess participants' knowledge of cardiac diseases composed of 30 questions about dietary knowledge, epidemiology, medical information, risk factors, and heart attack symptoms.

A total of 54.9% were female and 41.0% were employed. The vast majority of participants lived with their families (n = 929, 88.5%). Generally, the total scores of all cardiac items have a total score of (Mean = 18.8 out of 30, SD = 1.2), with a mean score of 3.8 out of 6 in dietary knowledge, 2.5 out of 4 in recognizing cardiac epidemiology, 4.0 out of 7 in knowing the cardiac medical information, 6.3 out of 9 in defining the main risk factors to develop cardiac diseases, and only 2.2 out of 4 in identifying the heart attack symptoms. The total score of cardiac knowledge is statistically significantly higher in females compared to males (t [1050] = 2.6, p > 0.001). The total score of dietary and cardiovascular risk factors are statistically significant with a higher educational level rather than school and less degree (t [1050] = 3.4, p > 0.001, and t [1050] = 2.9 [0.003]), respectively.

Jordan's population has a relatively low public cardiac knowledge score in all areas of heart disease, which may be a result of a lack of health literacy, a lack of educational programs about the further complications of heart disease, and poor socioeconomic conditions among Jordanians.