Relationships among perceived coronary heart disease risk, depression, health preventive behaviors, and coronary heart disease knowledge in older women

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among perceived risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), CHD knowledge, depression, and health preventive behaviors among U. S. women 65 to 95 years of age. A convenience sample of 104 women volunteered for participation in my study. Pearson r correlation coefficients were used to examine the associations among perceived risk of heart disease, depression, health behaviors, and CHD knowledge for women without and with a diagnosis of CHD.

Findings and Conclusions: Small to moderate correlations were found between health behaviors and unknown likelihood of developing CHD among women without CHD, suggesting that the more women perceived their risk of CHD to be unknown or delayed in onset, the more they reported engaging in health promoting behaviors. Also, women without CHD who scored higher on the depression measure tended to engage in fewer health promoting behaviors. Similar findings were found in women with CHD. Women with CHD were more depressed in this sample. These results highlight the importance for healthcare professionals to consider in their work with older women. It is also important for interventions that target depression, CHD, and CHD risk among older women to be implemented.