Awareness of symptoms and risk factors of Myocardial Infarction among adults seeking health care from a rural hospital of India

Background: Myocardial infarction is a major health problem in developing countries like India. Early recognition of symptoms and prompt medical care are essential for providing appropriate treatment to prevent adverse clinical outcomes in patients with MI. Aims: 1. To determine the level of awareness of warning symptoms of MI among rural adults. 2. To assess the level of knowledge about modifiable risk factors of MI among these adults. Materials and Methods: It was a hospital based cross sectional study. 540 consecutive, consented OPD patients visited to rural health and training centre (RHTC) were taken as study subjects. Data in respect of age, sex, education, per capita monthly income, family size, awareness about MI warning symptoms and its risk factors were collected. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. Statistical analysis used: Proportions and Chi-squared test. Results: In present study, the participants identified 4.25 of out of 9 symptoms and 6.48 of out of 11 risk factors. The most frequent symptom identified was chest pain (95%) followed by pain in one shoulder/arm (66.85%). About 2.77% of rural adults don’t know any of the MI symptoms. High Blood Pressure (88.7%) was the most frequently identified risk factor followed by tobacco use (smoking and smokeless–78%). The least frequently identified modifiable risk factor were sedentary life style (10.37%) and stress (20.55%). Conclusion: Educational interventions by interns and social workers posted in RHTC can be the first step to increase the awareness of early warning symptoms and risk factors of MI among rural adults visiting RHTC.