RESUMEN
Cardiovascular disease imposes the highest morbidity burden for non-communicable diseases. Primary care physicians have an important role in raising the awareness and educating public about methods to prevent these diseases. This study was aimed at identification of the awareness of people about the coronary heart diseases manifestations and its risk factors. The study was carried out at Abu-Khalifa village, using a cross-sectional descriptive research design. All adult individuals attending family health center at Abu Khalifa village were eligible for inclusion [n=123]. An interview questionnaire was designed to collect data. It covered personal data, socio-economic, medical history, family history, awareness about coronary heart disease [CHD], and attitude towards prevention. The results of the study revealed that one subject [0.8%] had a history of CHD, and 6.5% had a family history of CHD. Overall, 62.6% had satisfactory knowledge about CHD, and 95.1% had a positive attitude towards preventive measures. Females had more positive attitude, p=0.04. Multivariate analysis revealed that education was the only statistically significant independent predictor of knowledge score. Meanwhile, age, gender, and knowledge score were statistically significant independent predictors of the attitude score. Age was a negative predictor, whereas knowledge score and female gender were positive predictors. It is concluded that the level of satisfactory knowledge about CHD was acceptable, but lower than attitude. More effort is needed by the health team of the center to improve attendees' knowledge about CHD is recommended, with development of structured health education programs based on needs assessment. Further studies are needed to assess the effect of increasing awareness on the incidence of the disease