Stroke and newspapers: inattention or neglect?
BACKGROUND
Services for stroke are poorly developed in Europe, and research into stroke is underfunded compared with heart disease or cancer. This may arise from the low profile of stroke within the public domain. Our aim was to assess the coverage of stroke compared with heart disease in a popular form of mass media, newspapers in the United Kingdom and Ireland.


METHODS
We searched the online databases of 4 major newspapers in the United Kingdom and Ireland using the terms "stroke" and "heart" during a 1-year period from May 1, 2006, to May 1, 2007. The resulting articles were then classified by two clinicians and those relating to the clinical conditions of stroke and heart disease were selected.


RESULTS
The searches were refined by hand and those articles relating to stroke were: 105 in the Irish Times, 223 in the Daily Telegraph, 22 in The Observer, and 149 in The Guardian. The number of articles relating to heart disease was: 443 in the Irish Times, 653 in the Daily Telegraph, 81 in The Observer, and 688 in The Guardian.


CONCLUSIONS
Newspaper coverage of stroke is underreported when compared with heart disease, despite the clinical and financial burden of this condition. Professional and advocacy organizations for those with stroke need to develop strategies to increase the profile of stroke in the public domain.
Bartley
Mairéad
M
Department of Age-related Health Care, and National Children's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. maireadbartley@yahoo.co.uk
Tobin
W Oliver
WO
Collins
Ronán
R
O'Neill
Desmond
D
D001294:Attitude to Health; D003256:Community Participation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D005060:Europe; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D006291:Health Policy; D006331:Heart Diseases; D033181:Information Dissemination; D008402:Mass Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D009524:Newspapers as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D011639:Public Opinion; D017150:Public Sector; D020521:Stroke