People\'s knowledge, Attitude, and Self-efficacy towards Preventive Nutritional Behaviors of Cardiovascular Diseases

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are one of the major causes of mortality in the world. Incidence of such diseases has a direct relationship with lifestyle and nutrition. So, this study was conducted to investigate and compare knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy of Kerman residents towards eating behaviors preventing CVD. Methods: In this descriptive-analytic cross-sectional study, 400 men and women aged 20 to 60 years were randomly selected. A 31-item questionnaire on knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy regarding eating behaviors affecting CVD was used to collect the data. A panel of experts confirmed validity of the questionnaire. The questionnaire&rsquo;s internal reliability was confirmed through Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.84) and test-retest method (0.71). Results: The study population included 202 women (54.9%) and 166 men (45.1%). The overall average scores of perceived knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy out of 100, were respectively 84.15 &plusmn; 10.7, 47.84 &plusmn; 7.67, and 59.1 &plusmn; 16.57. In all three cases there was a significant difference between men and women (P < 0.05). Men with higher university education had a better attitude and knowledge about health condition; this was effective on men&rsquo;s self-efficacy. Being a full-time employee also increased women's self-efficacy. Conclusion: Although knowledge of the studied population was appropriate and their self-efficacy was in the middle level, the participants' attitude was poor. Self-efficacy of women was significantly higher than men and proper eating behavior was affected by attitudes, skills, and environmental factors.