An exploration of rural women's knowledge of heart disease and the association with lifestyle behaviours.

Heart disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Australian women. The purpose of the study was to investigate Australian rural women's knowledge of heart disease and the association with lifestyle behaviours. A questionnaire was developed to collect data on rural women's knowledge and risk of heart disease. Despite having an overall good knowledge of heart disease, there was an identified lack of health promoting behaviours by the women to reflect their knowledge. Over half of the women participants of this study reported two or more lifestyle risk factors for heart disease. This study shows that women might know about heart disease risk factors, nevertheless they might be unaware of their susceptibility to heart disease in relation to the risk factors. Without an awareness of personal susceptibility, women might be less likely to take action to reduce the risk of heart disease.