Abstract
Theories on health behaviour have recognized perceived risk as an essential factor in the adoption of a healthy lifestyle, however, little is known about stroke risk perception and response to stroke in the elderly population of Nigeria. Ageing being the most important unmodifiable risk factor for stroke, this study aims to determine the predictors of perception of stroke risk and response to stroke in the elderly This was a cross-sectional study, which involved a multi-stage random sampling, recruiting one hundred and sixty individuals 65years and older. The interview was by face to face using a questionnaire to determine, demographics, knowledge of stroke risk, perception of stroke risk and response in the event of a stroke. Multiple logistic regression models were used to analyze predictors of dependent variables Only 32.5% of participants had an accurate perception of stroke risk while 30.6% would consider taking a patient to hospital in the event of a stroke. Increasing age (P=0.001), the female gender (P<0.05), having two or more risk factors for stroke (P=0.001) and attending two or more specialized clinics (P=0.001) were significant predictors of the wrong perception of stroke risk and inappropriate response in the event of a stroke. The elderly are at risk for stroke, but sadly with increasing age and additional risk factors for stroke, the majority have a wrong perception of stroke risk and would respond inappropriately in the event of a stroke. It might be necessary to run stroke campaigns that are targeted and appropriate to the elderly, involving continuous intermittent repetitions.
Highlights
A person's perception of health risk is a recognized issue when goals of primary and secondary prevention of a disease are expressed
With respect to knowledge of stroke risk factor, the multiple logistic regression analysis showed that two variables were significant predictors for poor knowledge of stroke risk factors including increasing age, having two or more risk factors for stroke while higher educational status is a significant predictor for good knowledge for stroke risk factors
We did not find any association between gender and knowledge of stroke risk factors, after adjusting for the other variables the female gender was a significant predictor for wrong perception of stroke risk and inappropriate response in the event of a stroke
Summary
A person's perception of health risk is a recognized issue when goals of primary and secondary prevention of a disease are expressed. It is generally held that efforts to improve public awareness of stroke, its risk factors and warning signs would translate to prompt response in the event of stroke and participation in preventive measures. Improving stroke knowledge is necessary, it is not alone sufficient to determine a course of action in stroke care. Persons would adopt healthier behavior, when they perceive a personal risk or susceptibility to a disease. The greater the perception of risk the greater the possibility of engaging in behavior to decrease the risk, poor compliance to recommended health behaviors is associated with lower. J Biomed Res. Clin Pract | Vol 3 | No 2 | 2020
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