Underestimation of Cardiovascular Risk among Peri and Post-Menopausal Women

Introduction: Perimenopausal and postmenopausal women are at high risk to develop cardiovascular diseases, yet most of women in this group have inaccurate perception regarding their risk of getting the cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study is to determine accuracy of self-perception on cardiovascular risk and its associated factor among perimenopausal and postmenopausal women attending primary care clinic. Methods: This study is a cross sectional study involving 292 peri and post- menopausal women who attended outpatient clinic in Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital from May to August 2015. A Bahasa Malaysia version of Perception of Risk of Heart Disease Scale was used to assess participants’ perception on their cardiovascular risk. The risk perception was assessed based on sociodemographic factor, clinical characteristics and actual cardiovascular risk based on the Framingham Risk Score 2008. Results: A total of 265 patients responded. Mean age of the participants were 57.4 ± 7. 87. Five percent perceived themselves in moderate cardiovascular risk group, 81.9% inaccurately perceived their cardiovascular risk and 48.7% underestimate their risk. Diabetes mellitus (AOR 447.535, 95% CI 116.35,1721.40, p 0.001), age (AOR 1.122 , 95% CI 1.05, 1.20, p= 0.001) and systolic blood pressure (AOR 1.043, 95% CI 1.01, 1.07, p 0.004) were associated with underestimation of cardiovascular risk. (AOR 0.96, 95% CI 0.94, 0.99, p = 0.002). Conclusions: A significant proportion of participants inaccurately perceived their cardiovascular risk and almost half underestimated their risk. More health education need to be done among this group of patients.