Abstract
Objective: To assess the awareness level about stroke's risk factors, warning signs, and proper
actions to be taken. Method: A cross-sectional study of 600 adults was conducted using a validated questionnaire.
Participants who were able to recognize at least 5 risk factors, 3 warning signs,
and defined calling the ambulance in the first 3 hours of a suspected incident were
considered knowledgeable. Results: The average age was (27.7 ± 11.5) with a female predominance. The majority (59.3%)
were able to correctly define 5 or more risk factors, 68.3% of participants were able
to identify at least 3 warning signs of stroke whilst 9.5% were not able to identify
any warning signs. More than 70% of participants were willing to call ambulance within
3 hours while 86.2% preferred counseling doctors within 24 hours. Participants who
intended to call the ambulance in the first 3 hours were significantly younger (76.1%),
mainly students (45.4%) and were able to identify at least 5 risk factors (64.5%)
and 3 warning signs of stroke (74.1%). Conclusions: Despite reporting a relatively higher level of public's knowledge regarding stroke,
there is a persistent gap in their knowledge of stroke risk factors, and the importance
of seeking emergency medical care.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 27, 2020
Accepted:
February 26,
2020
Received:
January 6,
2020
Footnotes
Funding: This study was supported by Deanship of Scientific research at princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahaman University through the fast-trach research funding program. The funder had no role in study design, conduction, or decision to publish the manuscript.
Identification
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2020.104794
Copyright
© 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
