Awareness of stroke risk factors, signs and treatment in a Pakistani population.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the level of awareness in the general public on risk factors, symptomatology and immediate treatment of stroke.


METHODS
A cross sectional study was conducted in a sample of subjects visiting a tertiary care university hospital by means of a self-designed questionnaire. The study period extended between May and June, 2007.


RESULTS
A total of 398 individuals were surveyed. Hypertension (69.1%) and stress (55.8%) were identified as two major risk factors for stroke. Among them 50.8% identified "Brain" as the principal organ involved in stroke out of which 78.2% of the response came from people whose level of education was intermediate-and-above. Around 13% of the study respondents did not know of any risk factor for stroke, while 11.6% of the study respondents didn't know about the alarming signs of stroke. The most frequent response (26.16%) to immediate management of stroke was to take the individual to Emergency Department/hospital. In all 56% reported that basic information about stroke was given to them by friend/relative.


CONCLUSIONS
The overall awareness of the study population regarding stroke was shown to be inadequate by this study. Knowledge was significantly greater in participants of younger age and a higher level of education.
Aly
Zarmeneh
Z
The Aga Khan University, Karachi.
Abbas
Kanza
K
Kazim
Syed Faraz
SF
Taj
Fawad
F
Aziz
Fatima
F
Irfan
Affan
A
Sheikh
Rashid
R
Shakir
Mariam
M
Javed
Syed M
SM
Fatmi
Zafar
Z
D001364:Awareness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires