Association between knowledge and risk for cardiovascular disease among older adults: A cross-sectional study in China.
Qi Liu, Yan-Jin Huang, Ling Zhao and 5 others
PMID 32685615WHAT IT FOUND
Chinese older adults had poor cardiovascular knowledge on a 26-point score: 56.9% scored low and only 0.8% high.
Many also had high 10-year risk: 20.4% high and 26.6% very high. Low knowledge was linked to higher risk, but this was not a tested intervention.
Key findings
0156.9% of 1120 older adults had low cardiovascular disease knowledge (0-7/26) and only 0.8% had high knowledge (20-26/26).
0220.4% had high 10-year cardiovascular risk and 26.6% had very high risk.
03In the adjusted analysis, low knowledge was associated with higher cardiovascular risk (OR 9.796; 95% CI 2.604-36.855) compared with high knowledge.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a cross-sectional survey, so it cannot show that low knowledge causes high cardiovascular risk or that education reduces risk. Participants were older adults attending physical examination centers in one Chinese province, so they may not represent older adults in the community. 130 of 1250 recruited were excluded because they did not answer at least half of the questionnaire, which may bias the results. The questionnaire was customised and its validity needs further verification; many participants had low education, and some answers may reflect misunderstanding rather than true knowledge gaps. Only 9 participants had high knowledge, so the association between knowledge and risk is imprecise (95% CI 2.604-36.855 for low knowledge). The Discussion reports 45.4% with high or very high risk, while the results table lists 20.4% high and 26.6% very high risk.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 81641112) and the Hunan Excellent Young Teachers Fund (grant 2018191RQG010). The authors declared no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that improving cardiovascular disease knowledge will lower cardiovascular risk. This was a cross-sectional association, not an intervention trial, and it did not show that education changes risk.