Factors associated with higher cardiovascular disease risk awareness among patients with cardiovascular risk factors in primary care - Research Open Access

Q: What was the objective of this study?

To determine overall CVD risk awareness and identify factors associated with higher CVD risk awareness among patients with CVD risk factors in primary care.

Q: Which factors showed significant associations with higher CVD risk awareness?

Secondary and tertiary education, Middle 40% and Top 20% household income categories, personal history of CVD, first-degree family history of CVD, and high Framingham Risk Scores (FRS) were significantly associated with higher awareness.

Sep 30, 2026

Upload by pop out

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remain a leading cause of morbidity and mortality as major CVD risk factors become increasingly prevalent, including type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and obesity. Effective lifestyle interventions are essential, but adopting healthy behaviour depends on individuals’ awareness of their CVD risk. This study assessed overall CVD risk awareness and identified factors linked to higher CVD risk awareness among primary care patients with CVD risk factors.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

CVD burden and risk factors

Method

Result

Conclusion

Keywords

Md Nawawi etal. BMC Primary Care (2026) 27:7 [https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-025-03095-3](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-025-03095-3) BMC Primary Care RESEARCH Open Access Factors associated with higher cardiovascular disease risk awareness among patients with cardiovascular risk factors in primary care Nur Zawani Md Nawawi 1, Lina Lohshini Kanoo 1 and Anis Safura Ramli 1* Abstract Background Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remain a leading cause of morbidity and mortality due to the increasing prevalence of major CVD risk factors, including type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidaemia and obesity. Lifestyle intervention is crucial for tackling these risk factors and curbing CVD. A prerequisite for adopting healthy behaviour is an individual’s awareness of their CVD risk. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the overall CVD risk awareness and identify factors associated with higher CVD risk awareness among individuals with CVD risk factors in primary care. Method A cross-sectional study was conducted among individuals with at least one CVD risk factor at a university primary care clinic from June 2024 until February 2025. CVD risk awareness was measured using the Attitudes and Beliefs of Cardiovascular Disease −Malay version (ABCD-M) questionnaire. Multiple linear regression was utilised to identify the factors associated with higher CVD risk awareness. Result A total of 394 patients were recruited. The mean age was 53.3 (± 8 . 9) . The majority were Malays (59 . 6%), married (60 . 2%), and females (55 . 3%) . The mean ABCD-M risk score was 60.1 (± 8 . 98), indicating high overall CVD risk awareness. Significant factors associated with higher CVD risk awareness included secondary education (B = 5 . 54, 95% CI: 4 . 75, 6 . 34, < 0 . 001), tertiary education (B = 13 . 3, 95% CI: 12. 1, 14.4, p < 0. 001), Middle 40%(M40) household income category (B = 2 . 57, 95% CI: 1. 90, 3.25 p < 0. 001), Top 20%(T20) household income category (B = 3 . 02, 95% CI: 2 . 12, 3 . 92, p < 0. 001), personal history of CVD (B = 4 . 06, 95% CI: 3 . 17, 4 . 95, p < 0. 001), first-degree family history of CVD (B = 2 . 52, 95% CI: 1. 65, 3 . 39, p < 0. 001), and high Framingham Risk Scores (FRS) (B = 2 . 04, 95% CI: 1. 17, 2 . 91, p < 0. 001) . Conclusion This study revealed a high mean score for overall CVD risk awareness among patients with CVD risk factors in our primary care clinic. Higher education levels, higher income categories, personal and family history of CVD and high FRS were significantly associated with higher CVD risk awareness. These findings could be used to develop targeted interventions to improve CVD risk awareness and promote healthy behaviours in primary care. Keywords CVD risk awareness, ABCD-M risk score, CVD risk factors, Primary care *Correspondence: Anis Safura Ramli[anis014@uitm.edu. my](anis014@uitm.edu. my) 1Department of Primary Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sungai Buloh 47000, Selangor, Malaysia © The Author(s) 2026. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of thi

FAQs

What was the objective of this study?

To determine overall CVD risk awareness and identify factors associated with higher CVD risk awareness among patients with CVD risk factors in primary care.

How were CVD risk awareness and associated factors measured?

CVD risk awareness was measured using the Attitudes and Beliefs of Cardiovascular Disease −Malay version (ABCD-M) questionnaire, and multiple linear regression was used to identify associated factors.

Which factors showed significant associations with higher CVD risk awareness?

Secondary and tertiary education, Middle 40% and Top 20% household income categories, personal history of CVD, first-degree family history of CVD, and high Framingham Risk Scores (FRS) were significantly associated with higher awareness.

Sep 30, 2026

Upload by pop out