Survey of awareness of thrombolytic therapy for acute ischemic stroke among community residents in Yuzhong district，Chongqing，China

Abstract

Objective To determine the level of awareness about thrombolytic therapy for acute ischemic stroke among community residents in Yuzhong district，Chongqing，China. Methods We used multi-stage sampling to select 1500 households distributed in 3 Street of Yuzhong district，and then one member of each household answered the survey.A trained interviewer conducted a face to face survey about the questions regarding stroke warning signs and thrombolytic therapy in acute stroke. Results A total of 1101 participants completed the survey.Only 257 (23.3%，95% CI 20.8-25.8) participants were aware of thrombolytic therapy for acute stroke and 59.9% of them (154/257，95% CI 53.9-65.9) knew the time window of thrombolytic therapy.The rate of thrombolytic therapy awareness was higher among people with young age，well-educated，with higher household income with health insurance，and those who knew all 5 stroke warning signs.People aged≥75 years had higher rate of awareness of the time window.Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age，education level，health insurance and knowledge of stroke warning signs were independently associated with the rate of thrombolytic therapy awareness. Conclusions In this population-based survey the community residents had poor awareness of thrombolytic therapy for acute ischemic stroke.It is necessary to improve the level of public knowledge about thrombolytic therapy for acute stroke by health education. Key words: Brain ischemia; Stroke; Thrombolytic therapy; Awareness; Questionnaires