Barriers to Coronary Heart Disease Risk Modification in Women without Prior History of Coronary Heart Disease

PURPOSE: To explore the extent to which women perceive barriers to coronary heart disease (CHD) risk modification and to determine if access to a nurse practitioner (NP) decreases perceived barriers to CHD risk modification. DATA SOURCES: Surveys completed by 120 women between the ages of 35 and 60 years, with no known history of CHD. The barriers scale was used to examine women's perceived barriers to CHD risk modification. CONCLUSIONS: Women with access to an NP had less perceived barriers to CHD risk modification. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: NPs are ideally suited to decrease the mortality and morbidity associated with CHD through education strategies and attention to individual barriers women face when attempting to incorporate CHD risk factor modification into their lifestyles.