Health Beliefs and Cardiovascular Risk among Saudi Women: A Cross Sectional Study

Background: Several studies confirm the high prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) risk among women in Saudi Arabia. Few have focused on the association between cardiovascular risk and health beliefs. The current study examined health beliefs of Saudi women related to CVD. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on women attending the primary care clinics in a university hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Health belief and sociodemographic data were collected, and Framingham Risk Scores was calculated. Results: A total of 503 Saudi females participated, the majority of whom significantly underestimated their actual risk of CVD as measured by their individual FRS. 43.4% had a high CVD risk but a low perception of susceptibility. 63.5% understood the severity of CVD, while 75.2% had a low to moderate perception of the benefits of healthy behaviors. 86.7% did not know how to perform CVD risk-reducing exercises, and 65.9% stated that they did not have access to exercise facilities. There was a significant relationship between the Framingham Risk Scores across income, marital status, education, and occupational status categories (p≤0.001). Significant differences were found when comparing perceived benefits of healthy behaviors with marital status; perceived severity and benefits with the level of education; perceived severity and benefits with occupation; and perceived severity and benefits with financial income. Conclusions: Majority of Saudi women did not feel susceptible to CVD, although multiple risk factors were found to be present. Successful public health policy may demonstrate a reduction in the population burden of CVDs among Saudi women is warranted.