Public knowledge of people visiting Imam Reza hospital regarding stroke symptoms and risk factors

Elyar Sadeghi-Hokmabadi,Aysa Rezabakhsh,Khazar Ghasempour,Reza Rikhtegar,Samad Shams Vahdati

doi:10.1186/s12873-019-0250-5

Elyar Sadeghi-Hokmabadi, Aysa Rezabakhsh + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12873-019-0250-5

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Abstract

BackgroundEarly recognition of stroke symptoms results in a lower time period after stroke onset to treatment with a better outcome. This depends on the awareness of patients, family members, and the general public.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to evaluate public awareness about stroke risk factors, warning symptoms, and treatments.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted as a hospital-based survey on 2712 people who visited clinics or emergency department of Imam Reza hospital for any reason, from March 2015 to February 2016. All subjects were interviewed face-to-face by four trained physicians and a structured, pre-tested questionnaire was filled.ResultsThe mean age of participants was 41.0 ± 12.1 years old. Considering Cincinnati prehospital stroke scale (CPSS) as the main diagnostic system, the percentage of participants that mentioned face asymmetry, speech disturbances, and arm paralysis as a symptom of stroke was 7, 1.5, and 7.9%, respectively. Meanwhile, 71.2% of participants could not mention any of the stroke symptoms. Among participants, 20.2% did not know any of stroke risk factors although 35.1, 27.8, and 17.3% could name one, two and three or more risk factors, respectively. Among participants, only 1.1% were aware of thrombolytic therapy (t-PA) as a first-line drug for stroke treatment.ConclusionIn this study, public knowledge regarding stroke symptoms, risk factors, and therapy approaches was low. Taken together, public education is necessary to reduce the time for recognition of stroke symptoms and subsequently prompt and proper proceeding seems to be necessary for the community.

Highlights

Recognition of stroke symptoms results in a lower time period after stroke onset to treatment with a better outcome
We aimed to evaluate the awareness level of the people referring to Tabriz Imam-Reza hospital, on the details of stroke symptoms, its risk factors, and treatments
The questionnaire consisted of 5 sections: (1) demographic information which concerned respondent’s age, sex, education, race, occupation, income and place of residence, (2) stroke warning signs, (3) stroke risk factors, (4) stroke treatment, two questions were asked from responders (a) “ if someone appeared to have a stroke, what would you do first?” (b) “What is an appropriate treatment option for stroke?” and (5) at the last section the source of information they obtained about stroke was asked

Summary

Introduction

Recognition of stroke symptoms results in a lower time period after stroke onset to treatment with a better outcome. This depends on the awareness of patients, family members, and the general public. Incidence of stroke in Iran is considerably higher than most Western countries with a stroke occurring approximately one Sadeghi-Hokmabadi et al BMC Emergency Medicine (2019) 19:36 results showed that knowledge of stroke in the general population was acceptable [11]. In order to increase general awareness of stroke, public education is required. It seems that effective educational planning relies on an accurate assessment of the baseline knowledge of the population. We aimed to evaluate the awareness level of the people referring to Tabriz Imam-Reza hospital, on the details of stroke symptoms, its risk factors, and treatments

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Conclusion