Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), encompassing various disorders of the heart and blood vessels, remain a major challenge to global health. From 1990 to 2019, the number of people suffering from CVDs worldwide surged from 270 million to 523 million. This study aimed to investigate the levels of knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) toward cardiovascular disease prevention among patients with type 2 diabetes and/or overweight or obesity. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted between January and July, 2024, at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, among voluntary patients with T2D and/or overweight or obesity, using a validated, self-designed questionnaire. A total of 932 (93.11%) valid questionnaire responses were analyzed. Among the participants, 52.79% were male, with a mean age of 49.76 ± 17.24 years. RESULTS: The mean scores of KAP were 15.34 ± 6.10 (possible range: 0-26), 39.66 ± 3.69 (possible range: 11-55), and 41.38 ± 7.57 (possible range: 12-60), respectively. Path analysis indicated that knowledge had both direct (β (95% CI) = 0.308 (0.234 ~ 0.384), p = 0.005) and indirect (β (95% CI) = 0.081 (0.053 ~ 0.118), p = 0.006) effects on practice. CONCLUSION: Patients with type 2 diabetes and/or overweight or obesity exhibited a positive attitude but demonstrated moderate levels of knowledge and practice, indicating that while awareness exists, further strategies are needed to enhance effective cardiovascular disease prevention behaviors.