STEPS TO A HEALTHIER HEART: IMPROVING CHD KNOWLEDGE IN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN
CORONARY HEART DISEASE (CHD) KNOWLEDGE TEST ITEM ANALYSIS IN THE S.T.E.P.S. PROGRAM
T. Spencer, K. Cummins, C. Williams Brown. Departmnet of Human Performance and Sport Sciences; williamsc@wssu.edu
T.A. Spencer, J.L. Pittsley. Human Performance and Sport Sciences; tspencer112@rams.wssu.edu, pittsleyj@wssu.edu
Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is the leading cause of the death in women with a rate twice that of all forms of cancer combined. One in four American women dies of heart disease. Most women fail to make the connection between risk factors such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol and their personal risk of developing heart disease. As women age, the risk of developing CHD increases primarily due to serious risk factors and a decrease in estrogen production. According to the American Heart Association, African American women are at the highest risk for death from heart disease among all racial, ethnic, and gender groups. This is due to the fact that African American women have higher rates of obesity, physical inactivity, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Sisters Together Empowered for Prevention and Success, (STEPS) to a Healthier Heart, is a culturally and gender appropriate heart disease education program that examines the changes in knowledge, behavior, and heart disease risk factors for African American women, aged 35- 65. Subjects consisted of 350 women who self-selected into either an intervention group (Program) (n = 169) that participated in the weekly events or a comparison group (Information) (n = 181) that received written information about general CHD facts. Women in the intervention group exercise twice per week for an hour and attend educational seminars bi-weekly for twelve weeks. Data were collected prior to beginning the 12-week program and then again at the completion of the program. One of the instruments used to test the participant’s knowledge of heart disease is the CHD Knowledge Test composed of 20 multiple choice questions. Data were analyzed to determine if the educational seminars helped to increase each participant’s knowledge of heart disease by comparing pre and post-test responses of the CHD Knowledge Test for the two groups. Data analysis indicated that there was a slightly greater improvement in CHD knowledge in the intervention group. Therefore, we were able to determine the impact the program had on the increase of knowledge pertaining to heart disease.
Sisters Together Empowered for Prevention and Success (STEPS) to a Healthier Heart was a culturally and gender specific heart disease education program that examined the changes in knowledge, behavior, and heart disease risk factors for African American women. PURPOSE: To examine the pretest responses and improvements for each of the 20 items in the Cardiovascular Heart Disease Knowledge Test. METHODS: In STEPS, 345 African-American women (age 52.0 ± 8.5 yrs) self-selected into either Participation (n = 165) or Information (n = 180) groups. The Participation group completed a formal, 12-week program consisting of health education, including nutrition and risk factor awareness (via twice-weekly seminars), and supervised exercise sessions (twice-weekly). RESULTS: Over 75% of the participants answered 6 of the 20 items correctly in the pretest—these items were removed. There was no difference in the pretest scores (Participation = 32.2% vs Information = 33.5%). Neither group significantly improved test scores as a result of their respective interventions (Participation p = 0.63; Information p = 0.07). The information group improved the in 9 of the 14 items. The Participation group improved in 7 of the 14 items. DISCUSSION: Six of the 20 knowledge items were unusable to assess improvements. Unfortunately, neither group improved the overall test performance as a result of the intervention. Furthermore, of more concern, CHD Knowledge decreased in a significant number of assessment items.
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