The Readiness of Secondary Schools Teachers in Al-Nasiriyah City to Screening for Heart Disease: The Mediating Role of the Hypertension Beliefs and Behavior, Health Beliefs, and Heart-Healthy Behaviors

Objectives: The study aims to determine teachers' readiness to screen for heart disease. To find out the association between teachers' age, gender, marital status, BMI, education qualification, years in education, hypertension beliefs and behavior, heart health behaviors and their readiness to screening for heart disease. Methodology: A descriptive study is carry out on teachers of secondary schools in Al-Nasiriyah City. A convenience (non- probability) sample of (344) teachers of secondary schools. The data collection has initiated from January 26th, 2020 to March 14th, 2020. The research instrument consists of three parts; the first part contains demographic data, second part focus on participants' heart behaviors questionnaire, and third part related to hypertension belief and behavior. Descriptive and inferential statistical data analysis approaches have used. Results: The result of the study revealed that less than a half of teachers age at (22-30) years (n = 155), participants are equally distributed between males and females (n = 172), more than a half are married (59.9%), the majority hold a bachelor’s degree (81.1%), this showed in table 1. Around a half of the participants are within normal weight (49.7%). More than two-fifth do not know their systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Most of teachers do not know cholesterol level (n = 253), also the majority do not know HDL level it has (85.5%). More than a half reported that they do not have such family history (56.7%). Conclusion: The study conclusion has included more than a half are no ready to perform heart disease testing. Recommendations: The study has recommended that follow-up to check blood pressure periodically, follow up on continuous checks for cholesterol and HDL. Follow up on continuous checks for cholesterol and HDL Follow preventive measures to prevent hypertension.