Heart failure awareness survey in Germany: general knowledge on heart failure remains poor

Abstract

AimsPrevious studies demonstrated poor public awareness of heart failure (HF) compared with myocardial infarction and stroke. With respect to several activities to improve HF awareness in recent years, we present data on the development of HF awareness and information sources in Germany over 8 years.Methods and resultsIn 2007, 2012, and 2015, respectively, 2531, 359, and 171 respondents answered questions about causes, presentation, prognosis, and treatment of HF from a survey developed by the German Competence Network HF. Relationships between respondents' sociodemographic data and their HF knowledge were explored and changes in knowledge and use of information sources analysed. Sixty‐eight per cent of respondents knew HF as ‘weakness of the heart’. Seventy‐nine per cent knew shortness of breath, 74% reduced exercise tolerance, and 52% knew leg edema as symptoms. Only 40% knew all three symptoms. Although up to 34% of the respondents were directly or indirectly affected by HF, they demonstrated poor knowledge about severity and prognosis. Between 2007 and 2015, overall HF awareness has not changed; awareness about treatment has dropped significantly. Younger respondents used all media, especially internet, for information about health; older respondents preferred printed/verbal media and their physician.ConclusionsWe found rather insufficient public knowledge on HF etiology and symptoms but especially about management, severity, and prognosis, which is essential for good self‐care and adherence of patients. Heart failure awareness has not improved even though awareness campaigns were held over the years. It seems that especially older patients should be much more approached by their family physicians.

Heart failure awareness: a cross-sectional study on misconceptions and educational opportunities

“…This resonates with another finding stating that staggering 56% of the respondents were not aware of HF patients having worse life expectancy after the first hospitalization than the majority of patients with cancer. A similar finding was discovered in other countries and the SHAPE study [3,4,19].…”

“…The most prominent misconception was that one third of respondents considered that HF is a natural consequence of aging. Interestingly, other studies reported similar results [3,4,19]. This resonates with another finding stating that staggering 56% of the respondents were not aware of HF patients having worse life expectancy after the first hospitalization than the majority of patients with cancer.…”

“…Although 79% of Lithuanian respondents had previous knowledge about HF, only 26% of respondents correctly identified symptoms of HF. Comparing our results to other studies, there are many similarities among respondents in terms of knowing about HF and correct identification of typical complaints and symptoms of HF from its clinical description: 86% and 3% in SHAPE study (2002) [3], 72% and 36% in Germany (2012) [19], 83% and 30% in Slovenia (2011) [4], respectively. SHAPE was conducted in 2002 and reported the lowest numbers of respondents who knew all three main symptoms of HF.…”

Updates in heart failure: what last year brought to us

“…There is still insufficient awareness of the importance and severity of HF . Increasing awareness and adherence to treatment is a major component of all disease management programmes.…”

The importance of registries in today's heart failure therapies

“…We continue to gain more insight into these HF syndromes from contemporary registries [4][5][6]. While one-year and five-year mortality rates of patients with HF remain unacceptably high at about 15% and 50%, respectively [7][8][9][10], awareness about HF management and prognosis in the general population is still low [11].…”