Perceived Risk for Cardiovascular Disease among Japanese Adults

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) including coronary artery disease and stroke is a significant health problem in Japan regardless of well established health care and insurance system and various public campaigns and exhibitions in the contemporary Japanese society. Higher and increasing prevalence and incidence of well-known risk factor of CVD may contribute to increasing mortality and morbidity of CVD in the future. However, limited knowledge was available for understanding perceptions of risk for CVD among Japanese adults. This grounded theory study aimed to explore social psychological process in perception of risk for CVD among Japanese adults.There were a total of 26 individuals participated in this study. Participants consisted of 19 Japanese adults with at least one CVD risk factor and 7 Japanese health care providers residing or working in which a consistently high mortality rate of CVD in both men and women.The theory grounded from the data was a process to avoid serious physical, emotional, social, and financial suffering as a consequence of developing CVD or of leaving it untreated and a process to maintain a good relationship with risk for CVD among Japanese adults with CVD risk factors. This grounded theory was consisted of the central concept of perceived risk for CVD, which defined as fear, threats, sorrow, worries, and/or anxiety for possible adverse impacts on their life living with their family and suffering for loss of independence and quality of life consequent upon CVD. This central concept was followed by actions to avoid these adverse and excruciating consequences of CVD including changing behavior, taking measures to manage CVD risk, and continually evaluating their condition. Factors contributed to perception of risk for CVD among Japanese adults were seriousness and severity of consequences of CVD, susceptibility, proneness, and possibility to develop CVD, and Japanese specific contextual factors.This study may contribute to appropriately addressing perception of risk for CVD and behavior change among Japanese adults with risk factors for CVD within the unique social, cultural context of Japan. The results of this study could apply to better nursing practice for CVD risk management and health promotion in Japan.