INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF AWARENESS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS CORONARY RISK FACTOR REDUCTION - THE HELP STUDY (REPRINTED FROM JOURNAL-OF-CARDIOVASCULAR-RISK, VOL 4, PG 373)

An international survey was conducted to assess public awareness and a ttitudes to coronary heart disease and to establish the frequency with which certain health-related behaviours are practised in five Europea n countries. Members of the general public (n = 5013); individuals at increased risk of coronary disease (n = 2500); patients who had suffer ed a myocardial infarction (n = 1256) and members of their families (n = 1249) were interviewed in a study conducted in France, Germany, Ita ly, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The survey revealed a considerable degree of indifference to coronary heart disease, despite the possessi on of a reasonable level of knowledge of the risks involved, even amon g patients who had suffered a myocardial infarction. At the same time, respondents declared themselves satisfied with the quality of advice about coronary health which they obtained from the medical profession and regarded these sources of information as highly credible. Individu als in five European countries therefore possess reasonable levels of knowledge about coronary heart disease. They also have access to sourc es of heart health information which are perceived as highly credible. Nonetheless, such information has a very limited impact on their prac tice of health-related behaviours. (C) 1998 Lippincott-Raven Publisher s Published by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.