Knowledge associated with cardiovascular disease among early adulthood

Background: CVD has been designated as the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in India, representing a total of 31% of all global deaths. With the growing incidences and presence of CVD in both urban and rural area among male and females, it gets necessary to look into the depth and quote the causes for the growing condition. This study was performed to assess the level of knowledge among early adulthood on signs and symptoms, Risk factors, physical activity, morbidity pattern and addiction related to CVD Methods: A descriptive cross sectional survey was performed using a pretested self administered questionnaire on 250 purposively selected adult respondents, Frequency, mean and SD was used to assess the level of knowledge. Results: The response rate was 100%. The knwoeldge of respondents on signs and symptoms, RFs and morbidity Pattern was very low where 60% could not identify Diabetes mellitus as one of the RF, along with high blood pressure and high cholesterol(55.2 and 50.8%). the most common identified symptom was chest pain (71.60) but other symptoms such as dyspnoea (49.20%), sudden numbness or weakness of the arm , face or leg (72.80%),loss of balance or coordination (71.60%) were least identified or not at all known by the study subjects. The majority of respondents were students yet they were unaware of the normal range of HDL (92%), LDL (92.4%) apart from this they were not even aware of the normal range for Blood pressure and Sugar (60.4% and 77.6). In this study, 39.6% assumed that there was no relationship between exercise and heart health while 54 % believed that brisk walking is not good enough. Conclusion: This is the first study in Lucknow region based on knowledge associated with CVD among early adulthood. The present study reports that the adults have comparatively low knowledge related to CVD, which can be associated with increased risk and worsened condition of the participants in future. The participants had a fair enough knowledge on smoking and alcohol but the associated risk factors, sign and symptoms of CVD was quite poor . There is an urgent need to enrol the participants into educational interventions to bring about the change in the perception and knowledge of individuals.