CONCERNS AND MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT CARDIOVASCULAR-DISEASE RISK-FACTORS- A FOCUS GROUP EVALUATION WITH LOW-INCOME HISPANIC WOMEN

Five focus groups were conducted with Hispanic women (primarily of Mex ican American heritage) from few-income neighborhoods in San Jose, Cal ifornia, to learn about their knowledge of cardiovascular disease (CVD ) risk factors, the relative importance of risk factors and ideas abou t effective CVD risk-reduction programs. Despite language barriers and economic disadvantages, women were highly aware of heart disease and described it as a health priority. However, they articulated many misc onceptions about CVD and experienced multiple barriers to healthy life styles. The mast frequently mentioned risk factor was poor nutrition, especially high dietary fat (mentioned 543 times). The next most frequ ently mentioned risk factors were physical inactivity (127 times), obe sity (86 times), and smoking (78 times). Few women viewed CVD as a pro gressive, chronic process;few associated obesity with heart disease; a nd few emphasized the importance of hypertension and diabetes as prima ry CVD risk factors.