How much do those over 60 years of valvulopathies know?

He 30% of people over 60 years states that He has never heard of heart valves diseasesknown as valvulopathies, although they are potentially serious diseases if they are not detected in time. This follows from the ‘National Study on the Knowledge and Sensitization of Valvulopathies’, presented by the Spanish Association of Heart Valves, Anticoagulated and Adults with Congenital Heart Drives (AEPOVAC) in the framework of the International Awareness Week of Valvulopathies.

The report, which starts from 600 Online ‘Online Surveys At 60 years old In Spain, he warns of a Lack of information about this pathology and cardiovascular diseases in general. Only the 38% of participants It places heart conditions as the main cause of death In Spain ahead of cancer or traffic accidents.

On valvulopathies, although 63% associate them correctly with a malfunction of the heart valves, 11% openly manifest not knowing what they are and 9% contributes a vague explanation. Besides, Almost half (48%) do not know how many valves the heart has Or confuse it.

Besides, The vast majority of respondents correctly relate symptoms that alert a problem in heart valves, identifying fatigue, chest pain, respiratory distress and dizziness or fainting such as the main signals. However, 74% do not know that symptoms can differ between men and women. Along these lines, 96% of people over 60 believe that there is not enough information available on this disease. When knowing more, six out of 10 tend to resort to medical professionals, whether the cardiologist or the header.

Many people do not make a periodic review, but the concern is not high

The study highlights that approximately One in four people over 60 years of age there is no review heart -related periodically. Specifically, 24% claim to have never made a review, another 24% only when they have had any symptoms or recommended it, and 10% have not reviewed years ago. In this regard, Only 26% are reviewed annually and 16% occasionally, every two to five years. It should be noted that It is the men who review annually to a greater extent36% face 17% of women.

For the Valvulopathies detectionthe simplest and fastest tool is the Listen with phoneoscopebut 20% of respondents do not know this. In addition, 63% declare that they only auscult 5% say it has never been auscultated. Among women, this figure amounts to 8%. In general, the Concern for suffering valvulopathy is at a moderate levelwith an average score of 6 out of 10. 45% presents a moderate level of concern (with scores between 5 and 7), 32% manifest a high concern (between 8 and 10) and 23% reflects a low concern (between 1 and 4).

The people who diagnosed a valvulopathy indicate that They gave them peace of mind talking to the doctor (32%)while 15% was quite scared, and 14% felt relief by having a final diagnosis.

Besides, The report dedicates a section to cholesterola substance that most have heard, identifying that there is The good and the badbut 43% do not know the difference between the two.

“With this report on valvulopathies we wanted to know firsthand how much is known about this diseaseand the results lead us to conclude that It is necessary to continue implementing awareness campaigns to pass as soon as possible to the call to action“AEPOVAC President Cecilia Salvador has underlined.