title: Awareness and knowledge of sepsis in the general Korean population: comparison with the awareness and knowledge of acute myocardial infarction and stroke.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Patients with severe sepsis or septic shock require timely, aggressive management to improve their outcomes, and early presentation of patients to the hospital may also be important. Thus, public awareness about sepsis may be important for improved outcomes. However, there are no studies regarding the public awareness of sepsis in the general Korean population. Therefore, the objective of this survey was to gain insight into the public awareness of sepsis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective paper-based and web-based surveys were issued between May and June 2013 to adults aged ≥18 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1,081 participants responded to the survey (394 paper-based and 687 web-based). Mean age was 38.7±11.4 years, and 541 participants (50%) were men. Of the 1,081 participants, 831 (76.9%) had heard of the term "sepsis." Of these participants, only 295 (35%) responded correctly regarding the definition of sepsis. However, 1,019 participants (94.3%) had heard of acute myocardial infarction, and 817 of these (80%) correctly defined acute myocardial infarction. Regarding stroke, 1,047 (96.9%) had heard of stroke, and 975 of these responded (93.1%) correctly to the definition of stroke.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is poor public awareness about sepsis compared with that of acute myocardial infarction and stroke. This may limit the timely management of severe sepsis and septic shock.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Minji
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyuseok
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Hyuk
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Gyeongsang National University Hospital, Jinju, Korea.
authors.forename: Changwoo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: You Hwan
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Jo
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Gyeongsang National University Hospital, Jinju, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong Hoon
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Jeju National University Hospital, Jeju, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyeong Won
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Gyeongsang National University Hospital, Jinju, Korea.
authors.forename: Soo Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul Veterans Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Chanjong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Joonghee
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Heajin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyunmi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Sujin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jang
keywords: Awareness; Knowledge; Sepsis; Septic shock