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Background: Cardiovascular diseases are considered as the most common cause of death worldwide; resulting in 50% of total deaths reported throughout the globe, and it’s expected to increase significantly. Cardiovascular diseases are also the most common cause of death in Saudi Arabia. The current study was aimed at determining the level of awareness regarding cardiovascular diseases among a random representative sample of Riyadh population, Saudi Arabia during the year 2017. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was carried out employing random sampling technique and with a sample size of 388 adults (age of 18 years to 50 years and more) among the general public excluding the medical staff. Results: Among the total subjects studied, half of the respondents reported good knowledge regarding the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases (46.6%) and a good level of awareness regarding prevention of cardiovascular diseases (71.2%), while a majority of them had (67.2%) poor knowledge regarding the clinical characteristics of cardiovascular diseases. Most respondents had a moderate level of knowledge of cardiovascular diseases (60.5%) and they belonged to a lower economic status group. Majority of the participants who had a moderate level of awareness of cardiovascular diseases were educated at university level (36.3%). Conclusion: Most participants had good knowledge regarding risk factors and prevention of cardiovascular diseases, the majority of participants had poor knowledge regarding the clinical characteristics of cardiovascular diseases. There was no statistically significant relationship found between economic status, education level, and the level of awareness of cardiovascular diseases.

Background: Stroke is known to be the second leading cause of death and persistent disability worldwide, with 5.5 million deaths each year. Public knowledge regarding risk factors, signs and symptoms and the prevention of stroke is an important factor in reducing the incidence of stroke. Objective: This study aimed to determine the level of awareness regarding stroke in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods: This study recruited 150 participants from primary health care (PHC) centres, based on the methodology of a similar cross-sectional study conducted in Riyadh. The study group included adult male and female PHC visitors and excluded visitors with mental illness and medical personnel. Systematic random sampling was used to select participants. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and analysed using SPSS. Microsoft Excel was used to generate tables and charts. Consent was obtained before data collection, with emphasis on each participant's right to withdraw from the study at any time. Result: A total of 150 respondents were included in this study. We found that the majority of the participants had a high level of awareness regarding the risk factors of stroke ( n = 115, 76.66%). More than half of the participants ( n = 95, 63.3%) had a moderate level of awareness of the signs and symptoms of stroke. The study also revealed that there was no statistically significant relationship between education level and level of awareness regarding risk factors of stroke ( p = 0.334). Conclusion: This study found that the majority of participants had a high level of awareness regarding stroke. Regarding the education level of the participants, we found that the majority of participants with primary school-level education had a high level of awareness regarding stroke risk factors. Furthermore, we found that the level of awareness about prevention of stroke was moderate among participants. Thus, further studies should explore how to improve levels of awareness regarding the prevention of stroke.

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