In the last decade, there has been a marked decrease in awareness among women that heart disease is their leading cause of death, according to a new report.
Published in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation, the report includes data from the results of online surveys conducted by the American Heart Association in January 2009 and 2019. Each of the surveys includes responses from more than 1,000 U.S. women over age 25.
In 2009, 65 percent of women reported being aware that heart disease was the leading cause of death among women, compared to 44 percent of women in 2019.
The greatest declines in awareness were among Hispanic women (86 percent decline between 2009 and 2019), Black women (67 percent decline) and women ages 25 to 34 years (81 percent decline).
Researchers also found that awareness of heart attack symptoms declined among all women and that women were more likely to incorrectly identify breast cancer as the leading cause of death in 2019 compared to a decade ago.
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