[The heart of Italians. A population survey on the perception and evaluation of the National Health Service by citizens with heart disease and without heart disease (with special reference to cardiology)].

Background: The purpose of this study was to collect information to understand how citizens perceive the National Health System (NHS), and what is the degree of confidence they have in the NHS.

Methods: We carried out an opinion poll with the Demos & Pi group on the perception of the NHS by Italian citizens, with particular reference to the activities related to cardiology, by interviewing 2311 people with a set of 33 questions, about the perception of their health status, lifestyles, the propensity to use public or private services, consideration of the level of the NHS, and the trust in the medical profession. The subjects included were also preliminarily stratified according to the presence or absence of heart disease.