Assessment of the Awareness of Warning Signs and Risk Factors of Stroke in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Rawalpindi: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47672/ajhmn.1342Keywords:
Awareness, people, warning, signs, risk, factors, stroke, tertiary, care, hospital, RawalpindiAbstract
Purpose: Stroke incidence is high all over in the world. It has a list of specific warning signs and risk factors. Awareness of people about those warning signs and risk factors is low especially in third world countries. This study aimed to identify the awareness of people about the warning signs and risk factors of stroke.
Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in a tertiary care hospital, Rawalpindi, among one hundred for one year from June 2021 to June 2022. Ethical approval and informed consent were waived before the start of study. Patients’ selection was made via a well-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Convenient sampling technique was also used for enrollment of participants. Data was collected by using a self-designed questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were put into action for the data analysis. Data analysis was carried out by SPSS version 25.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY).
Findings: The warning sign of the stroke about which most of the people were aware was sudden body weakness or numbness (74%) while warning sign about which people were least aware was sudden difficulty in seeing objects by one or both eyes (29%). The most common identified risk factor in people was hypertension (70%) for stroke while least common identified risk factor was family history of stroke (36%). In short, this study indicates people awareness about the warning signs and risk factors of stroke was not up to the mark in study population.
Recommendation: There is need to increase the awareness level of people about the warning signs and risk factors of the stroke. This could lead to timely and effective management of stroke and its prevention as well.
Downloads
References
Obembe AO, Olaogun MO, Bamikole AA, Komolafe MA, Odetunde MO. Awareness of risk factors and warning signs of stroke in a Nigeria university. Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases. 2014 Apr 1;23(4):749-58.
Patnaik L, Sahoo HS, Sahu T. Awareness of the warning symptoms and risk factors of stroke among adults seeking health care from a rural hospital of India. Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology. 2015 Oct;18(4):487.
Hickey A, Holly D, McGee H, Conroy R, Shelley E. Knowledge of stroke risk factors and warning signs in Ireland: development and application of the Stroke Awareness Questionnaire (SAQ). International Journal of Stroke. 2012 Jun;7(4):298-306.
Osama A, Ashour Y, El-Razek RA, Mostafa I. Public knowledge of warning signs and risk factors of cerebro-vascular stroke in Ismailia Governorate, Egypt. The Egyptian Journal of Neurology, Psychiatry and Neurosurgery. 2019 Dec;55(1):1-6.
Stroebele N, Mueller-Riemenschneider F, Nolte CH, Mueller-Nordhorn J, Bockelbrink A, Willich SN. Knowledge of risk factors, and warning signs of stroke: a systematic review from a gender perspective. International Journal of Stroke. 2011 Feb;6(1):60-6.
Sallar AM, Williams PB, Omishakin AM, Lloyd DP. Stroke prevention: awareness of risk factors for stroke among African American residents in the Mississippi delta region. Journal of the National Medical Association. 2010 Feb 1;102(2):84-94.
Komolafe MA, Obembe AO, Olaogun MO, Adebiyi AM, Ugalahi T, Dada O, Kanu A, Adebiyi OC, Akilo F, Ogunkoya B, Fawale B. Awareness of stroke risk factors and warning signs in Nigerian adolescents compared with adults. Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases. 2015 Mar 1;24(3):687-93.
Al Shafaee MA, Ganguly SS, Al Asmi AR. Perception of stroke and knowledge of potential risk factors among Omani patients at increased risk for stroke. BMC neurology. 2006 Dec;6(1):1-6.
Fekadu G, Chelkeba L, Kebede A. Risk factors, clinical presentations and predictors of stroke among adult patients admitted to stroke unit of Jimma university medical center, south west Ethiopia: prospective observational study. BMC neurology. 2019 Dec;19(1):1-1.
Hosseininezhad M, Ebrahimi H, Seyedsaadat SM, Bakhshayesh B, Asadi M, Ghayeghran AR. Awareness toward stroke in a population-based sample of Iranian adults. Iranian journal of neurology. 2017 Jan 1;16(1):7.
Khalil HM, Lahoud N. Knowledge of stroke warning signs, risk factors, and response to stroke among Lebanese older adults in Beirut. Journal of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases. 2020 May 1;29(5):104716.
Hickey A, O'Hanlon A, McGee H, Donnellan C, Shelley E, Horgan F, O'Neill D. Stroke awareness in the general population: knowledge of stroke risk factors and warning signs in older adults. BMC geriatrics. 2009 Dec;9(1):1-8.
Beyaert C, Vasa R, Frykberg GE. Gait post-stroke: pathophysiology and rehabilitation strategies. Neurophysiologie Clinique/Clinical Neurophysiology. 2015 Nov 1;45(4-5):335-55.
Getu RA, Aga F, Badada T, Workie SG, Belew MA, MekonnenRN K. Knowledge of stroke risk factors and warning symptoms among adults with type 2 diabetes in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2021: an institution-Based cross-sectional study. BMC Cardiovascular Disorders. 2023 Jan 16;23(1):21.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Ahmed Mumtaz, Jehanzeb Akram, Abdul Hadi Hasan, Ramsha Ali, Muhammad Salman Tariq, Alizay Tauqeer, Ayesha Basharat, Marryam Amer, Syeda Ammara Fatima, Somia Bibi, Tayyab Mumtaz Khan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal.
