Perception of knowledge, attitudes and preventive practices about warning signs and symptoms for coronary artery disease and other cardiovascular risk factors in People with Hiv

Objective: to evaluate the perception of people with HIV about knowledge, attitudes and preventive practices about warning signs for Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) and cardiovascular risk factors. Methods: cross-sectional study conducted in a Specialized Care Service (SAE) for people with HIV in a hospital in the city of Jataí-GO, Mid-West, Brazil. A questionnaire with open and closed questions was used. Bivariate analysis stratified by sex was performed to check the factors associated with warning signs of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) and cardiovascular risk factors. Poisson regression analysis was carried out for the outcome of knowledge of warning signs, and the result of the analysis was presented as Prevalence Ratio and confidence interval (CI) of 95%. Results: it was attended by 112 people with HIV. The mean age was ±41.28 years. It was found that 50.9% of people with HIV were males, aged between 40-59 years. Regarding sex, only marital status was in proportion. Most denied smoking (77.7%) and drinking (63.4%). Of the total participants, there was a prevalence of 83% (95% CI: 75.9-91.1%) with low knowledge of cardiovascular risk factors. On the other hand, 94.6% (95% CI: 89.3-98.4%) of the total number of participants had low knowledge of the seven warning signs for CAD. Conclusion: the results of this study reveal that people cared for by SAE have low knowledge of both cardiovascular risk factors and warning signs for CAD; and, therefore, continuing education strategies that address knowledge, attitudes and practices about cardiovascular risk factors are recommended.