Patients’ perception of their own illness affects how they follow management plans and how they react to various signs and symptoms of cardiac diseases.

to evaluate the perception of heart disease in adults with heart disease in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

To evaluate the perception of symptoms, timeline, cure, consequences and causes of heart disease in adults with heart disease in King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH) in Saudi Arabia, and to assess the effects of demographic factors.

A cross sectional study was conducted on 59 patients in KKUH using the Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ) with demographic questions added to questionnaire, participants had heart disease and were between the age of 18-75 and were recruited from the inpatient wards and outpatient clinics.

The majority of the participants were males (78.6%), over the age of 40 (83%), married (81.4%), half of the participants did not reach a high level of education (52.5% secondary or less). no statistical difference in IPQ scores in age, gender, out or in patients and area of residency. More than 70% of the participants recognized ‘Dyspnea”, ‘Chest Pain”, and ‘Loss of strength’ and ”Irregular heartbeat” as symptoms of heart disease. About half of the participants (52.6%) agreed that ‘Heart disease is likely to go on and on”. Three quarters of the total participants (76.2%) agreed that ‘Heart disease is a serious condition”. Almost all (91.5%) agreed that ‘Changing one’s diet (less fat) will help to control heart disease”.

participants have less misconceptions about their illness than expected.