Menopausal women's cardiovascular disease risk awareness and health beliefs related to exercise behavior

Menopausal period is an important transition period for women. The risk of cardiovascular disease increases in women due to the decrease in estrogen during menopause. For this reason, it is of great importance to know the risk factors of cardiovascular disease in menopausal women and to raise awareness. In order to improve exercise behavior, which is an important factor in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, it is important to evaluate their beliefs about this behavior. This study was conducted to determine the cardiovascular disease risk awareness of menopausal women and their health beliefs about exercise behavior. Between June and November 2022, 300 menopausal women registered in Bekilli Family Health Center affiliated to Denizli Provincial Health Directorate constituted the sample of the study. ''Form on Socio-Demographic Characteristics'', ''Cardiovascular Disease Risk Awareness Assessment Scale'' and ''Exercise Health Belief Model Scale'' were used as data collection tools. SPSS 22.0 statistical package program was used to analyze the data. Number and percentage distributions, mean and standard deviation, independent sample t-test, One-way ANOVA test and Pearson correlation analysis were used in the analysis of the data. As a result of the analysis, the mean total scale score of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Awareness was 36,31±3,78 and the mean total scale score of Exercise Health Belief Model was 3,66±0,28. There was a significant relationship between cardiovascular disease risk awareness and exercise health beliefs in menopausal women. In conclusion, cardiovascular disease risk awareness of menopausal women was at a moderate level and health beliefs about exercise behavior were above the moderate level. It was determined that exercise health beliefs had an effect on the formation of cardiovascular disease risk awareness in menopausal women. It is recommended that nurses should play an active role to increase cardiovascular disease risk awareness and exercise health beliefs in menopausal women and similar studies should be conducted in different sample groups.