Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Young Women: An integrative Literature Review
Open Access
- Author:
- Ligorski, Jacqueline Emma
- Area of Honors:
- Nursing
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Dr. Carol A Smith, Thesis Supervisor
Donna Marie Fick, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- ardiovascular Disease
heart disease
women
awareness
prevention programs and English Language programs. - Abstract:
- Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of death and disability for women in the United States. The women’s ability to understand their actual cardiovascular risk, the pros and cons of possible treatment and their options for modifying risks, earlier in life, when values are being developed, may increase the likelihood that they will be actively involved in adopting in health lifestyle behaviors that support heart health. The purpose of this integrative review of the literature is to review, critique and synthesize research literature on prevention of cardiovascular disease in women to enhance understanding of the problem and identify potential strategies for improvements. A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted on research studies published between 2000 and through 2011. Key search terms included: Cardiovascular Disease, heart disease, women, awareness, prevention programs and English Language programs. The inclusion and exclusion criteria narrowed the results to 14 studies included in this integrative review. The aims of the integrative review were to determine if any research has been done to raise awareness of cardiovascular disease risk in women; determine if strategies studied were aimed at younger ages to maximize awareness of potential for risk; determine if there is any evidence of strategies to target adult women earlier to affects their lifestyle choices, modify their risk behavior, or alter actual incidence of cardiovascular disease in women studied. The results showed that there is a lack of research done in the area of cardiovascular disease awareness and prevention. This review identified that there is a lack of research conducted on women’s awareness and perception of cardiovascular disease risk, especially among young women, therefore more research is needed to evaluate the extent of the problem.