Sex differences in cardiovascular disease knowledge, risk perception, and preventive care prior to first myocardial infarction.

Authors

Virginia De Martin Topranin, Gunhild Brørs, Julie C Sæther, Elisabeth K Vesterbekkmo, Eva Gerdts, Siri Vangen, Anja Bye

Published in

European heart journal. Quality of care & clinical outcomes. Sep 24, 2026. Epub Sep 24, 2026.

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate sex differences in cardiovascular disease knowledge, risk perception, and preventive care prior to first myocardial infarction (MI).
The study adopted a cross-sectional design. Using a web-based solution, 1628 Norwegian individuals who experienced a first-ever MI in 2024, mean (SD) age 64.1 (10.0) years, of which 25.4% women, completed the Norwegian ABCD Risk Questionnaire along with a de novo questionnaire. Sex differences were tested using linear regression for total scale scores, logistic regression for binary variables, and ordinal logistic regression for categorical variables.
On the ABCD Risk Questionnaire, women scored lower than men on risk perception (B = -0.50, 95% CI = -0.87 to -0.13) and higher on healthy eating attitude (B = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.34 to 1.02). On the de novo questionnaire, MI knowledge was low in both women and men, but women could identify significantly more MI risk factors (B = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.02 to 1.01) and symptoms (B = 1.20, 95% CI = 0.88 to 1.51) than men. Women were less likely than men to report previous MI risk assessment, including smoking status (OR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.41 to 0.71). Women were also less likely than men to report receipt of lifestyle advice to prevent MI (OR = 2.29, 95% CI = 1.71 to 3.06).
Cardiovascular knowledge and risk perception were poor among Norwegian individuals prior to MI, with indication that women had better knowledge but poorer risk perception than men. Substantial gaps in self-reported preventive care were identified, particularly among women. Sex-specific strategies are spoken for to improve cardiovascular awareness at both individual and clinical level.

PMID:
42779225
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 24 Sep 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.