Effect of Health Education on Level of Awareness and Knowledge of Nigerian In-School adolescents on Stroke and Its Risk Factors

Abstract

Background: Stroke education in adolescents has been established as an effective method of creating awareness about stroke, its warning signs and risk factors. It contributes to desired behavioural change in the adolescents as well as their parents. Thus, we aimed to determine the baseline knowledge of school attending adolescents about stroke and its risk factors as well as the effect of stroke education on their stroke awareness. Methods: This study employed a quasi-experimental study design and was conducted in secondary schools in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The schools were divided into intervention and control groups. We assessed the baseline knowledge of the students on stroke, its risk factors, warning signs, and ways of preventing it using a pre-tested structured questionnaire in both intervention and control groups. In the intervention group, health talks on stroke consisting of oral presentation and distribution of fliers were presented for 30 minutes in each selected school. Each school was visited 2 weeks after the health education intervention to assess their knowledge on stroke, its risk factors, and ways of preventing it. The control group was also visited after 2 weeks for a re-assessment of their stroke knowledge and the conduct of heath talk on other aspects of neurology such as sleep, epilepsy, etc. Results: A total of 1259 adolescents were studied with 661 in the intervention group and 598 in the control group. The mean age of the respondents was 13.56 ± 2.87 the intervention group and 13.38 ± 2.06 in the control group. There were higher mean scores on knowledge of stroke and its risk factors among the intervention group than seen in the control group after the stroke education. Conclusions: Stroke education is an effective way of creating and maintaining stroke awareness among school-attending adolescents.