Abstract
BackgroundThe prevalence of stroke is increasing in Nigeria due to a lack of awareness of their predisposing factors. There is therefore a need for good knowledge and awareness of stroke risk factors in the general populations. Thus, this study assessed the level of awareness of stroke risk factors among non-teaching staff in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nnewi Campus, Nigeria.ResultsMost of the participants were female, 89 (69%), and had a post-graduate degree, 84 (65.1%). A total of 129 participants participated in this survey, and 91 (70.5%) were familiar with the term “stroke.” The commonest risk factors were high blood pressure (86%), stress (74.4%), and lack of exercise (63.6%). The study showed that the awareness of stroke risk factors among the participants was poor (40.3%).ConclusionStroke awareness was poor among the participants with the highest risk of stroke despite their high literacy level. Female participants, with a postgraduate level qualification and working as senior non-teaching staff, had a better awareness of stroke risk factors than their male colleagues. This shows a need to increase stroke awareness campaigns in the community.
Highlights
The prevalence of stroke is increasing in Nigeria due to a lack of awareness of their predisposing factors
About 92.2% of the participants thought that a person can reduce the risks of stroke, 70.5% of the participants thought the risk of stroke was high in > 50 years old age groups, and 39.5% of the participants thought the risk of stroke was equal in both males and females (Table 2)
Socio‐demographics characteristics of the participants This study investigated the level of awareness of the stroke risk factors among non-teaching staff working at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University
Summary
The prevalence of stroke is increasing in Nigeria due to a lack of awareness of their predisposing factors. There is a need for good knowledge and awareness of stroke risk factors in the general populations. This study assessed the level of awareness of stroke risk factors among non-teaching staff in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nnewi Campus, Nigeria. Stroke is an important health determinant especially in Africa where these events were historically reported to be rare probably as a result of a lack of resources to conduct proper community-based studies to assess its burden [2]. Data from hospital-based studies shows that the 30-day case fatality rate from stroke is high and ranges from 28 to 40%, with those with complications having worse outcomes [8, 9]. The reported average age of stroke patients seen in Nigerian hospitals ranged between 57 and 64 years [10,11,12,13]
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