Awareness of warning signs among suburban Nigerians at high risk for stroke is poor: A cross-sectional study

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Abstract

Background

Although stroke is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Nigeria, there is no information on awareness of its warning signs. This study was designed to assess awareness of stroke warning signs in Nigerians at increased risk.

Methods

A hospital-based cross-sectional study conducted at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, in southern Nigeria. Patients with a diagnosis of hypertension, diabetes or both were interviewed for the warning signs of stroke in the outpatient clinic by trained interviewers. The main outcome measure was ability to identify at least one stroke warning sign.

Results

There were 225 respondents with a mean age of 58.0 ± 11.7 years. Only 39.6% could identify at least one stroke warning sign while the commonest sign identified was sudden unilateral limb weakness (24.4%). On multivariate logistic regression analysis, male sex (β = 0.26, 95% CI = 0.14–0.39, p < 0.001) and 11 or more years of education (β = 0.16, 95% CI = 0.03–0.29, p = 0.02) emerged the independent predictors of ability to identify at least one warning sign.

Conclusion

Awareness of stroke warning signs is poor among Nigerians at increased risk for the disease. Efforts should be made to improve on the level of awareness through aggressive health education.

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Most cited references 20

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Knowledge of stroke risk factors, warning symptoms, and treatment among an Australian urban population.

Carl J. Wiggers, A. Yoon, C Levi … (2001)

Reduction in the risk of stroke and increase in the speed of hospital presentation after the onset of stroke both depend on the level of knowledge of stroke in the general population. The aim of the present study was to assess baseline knowledge regarding stroke risk factors, symptoms, treatment, and information resources. A community-based telephone interview survey was conducted in the Newcastle urban area in Australia. A total of 1278 potential participants between the ages of 18 to 80 were selected at random from an electronic telephone directory. A trained telephone interviewer conducted a telephone survey using the Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) program. A total of 822 participants completed the telephone interview. Six hundred three participants (73.4%) correctly identified the brain as the affected organ in stroke. The most common risk factors for stroke identified by respondents were smoking (identified by 324 [39.4%]) and stress (identified by 277 [33.7%]). The most common warning sign of stroke described by respondents was "blurred and double vision or loss of vision in an eye," listed by 198 (24.1%). A total of 626 (76.2%) respondents correctly listed >/=1 established stroke risk factor, but only 409 (49.8%) respondents correctly listed >/=1 warning sign. The level of knowledge in the community of established stroke risk factors, warning signs, and treatment as indicated by this survey suggests that a community-based education program to increase public knowledge of stroke may contribute to reducing the risk of stroke and to increasing the speed of hospital presentation after the onset of stroke.

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Public awareness of warning symptoms, risk factors, and treatment of stroke in northwest India.

M D Pandian, Guneet Kalra, Bobin George Abraham … (2005)

This study assessed public awareness of warning symptoms, risk factors, and treatment of stroke in Ludhiana, Punjab, North West India. A hospital-based survey was conducted between February 2002 and September 2002 by the Stroke section of Christian Medical College. The study subjects were relatives of patients without history of stroke, attending the outpatient department of the hospital. Trained medical students, interns, and a nurse interviewed subjects using a structured, pretested, open-ended questionnaire. Nine hundred forty-two individuals were interviewed during the study period (56.4% men, mean age 40.1 years, age range 15 to 80 years). Forty-five percent of the subjects did not recognize the brain as the affected organ in stroke. In the multivariate analysis, higher education (P<0.001; odds ratio 2.6; 95%, CI 1.8 to 3.8) and upper socioeconomic status (P<0.005; odds ratio 1.6; CI, 1.1 to 2.2) correlated with a better knowledge of which organ was affected in stroke. Twenty-three percent of the participants did not know a single warning symptom of stroke. Twenty-one percent of the subjects could not identify even a single risk factor for stroke. Seven percent of the study population believed that oil massage would improve stroke victims. A small proportion of subjects believed in witchcraft, faith healing, homeopathic, and ayurvedic treatment (3%). This hospital-based survey reveals a better awareness of stroke warning signs and risk factors. However, knowledge regarding the organ involved, etiology, and treatment of stroke is lacking. Considerable education is needed to increase public awareness in modern concepts of stroke treatment.

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Public perception of stroke warning signs and knowledge of potential risk factors.

A M Pancioli, Timothy J Broderick, Konik Kothari … (2015)

Decreasing the time from stroke onset to hospital arrival and improving control of stroke risk factors depend on public knowledge of stroke warning signs and risk factors. To assess current public knowledge of stroke warning signs and risk factors. A population-based telephone interview survey using random digit dialing conducted in 1995. The Greater Cincinnati, Ohio, metropolitan area, the population of which is similar to that of the United States overall in age, sex, percentage of blacks, and economic status. Respondents with age, race, and sex that matched the population of patients with acute stroke. Knowledge of risk factors for stroke and warning signs of stroke as defined by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Telephone calls were made to 17634 households, which yielded 2642 demographically eligible individuals. Interviews were completed by 1880 respondents (response rate, 71.2%). A total of 1066 respondents (57%) correctly listed at least 1 of the 5 established stroke warning signs, and of all respondents, 1274 (68%) correctly listed at least 1 of the established stroke risk factors. Of the respondents, 469 (57%) of 818 respondents with a history of hypertension listed hypertension, 142 (35%) of 402 respondents who were current smokers listed smoking, and 32 (13%) of 255 respondents with diabetes listed diabetes as a risk factor for stroke. Compared with those younger than 75 years, respondents 75 years or older were less likely to correctly list at least 1 stroke warning sign (60% vs 47%, respectively; P<.001) and were less likely to list at least 1 stroke risk factor (72% vs 56%, respectively; P<.001). Considerable education is needed to increase the public's awareness of the warning signs and risk factors for stroke. Respondents with self-reported risk factors for stroke are largely unaware of their increased risk. The population at greatest risk for stroke, the very elderly, are the least knowledgeable about stroke warning signs and risk factors.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): BMC Neurol

Title: BMC Neurology

Publisher: BioMed Central

ISSN (Electronic): 1471-2377

Publication date Collection: 2008

Publication date (Electronic): 30 May 2008

Volume: 8

Page: 18

Affiliations

[1 ]Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria

[2 ]Department of Medicine, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Nigeria

Article

Publisher ID: 1471-2377-8-18

DOI: 10.1186/1471-2377-8-18

PMC ID: 2423187

PubMed ID: 18513399

SO-VID: d1f72201-392d-4540-8c11-ac3e0559b236

License:

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Awareness of warning signs among suburban Nigerians at high risk for stroke is poor: A cross-sectional study

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Abstract

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Conclusion

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Stroke MRI

Most cited references 20

Knowledge of stroke risk factors, warning symptoms, and treatment among an Australian urban population.

Public awareness of warning symptoms, risk factors, and treatment of stroke in northwest India.

Public perception of stroke warning signs and knowledge of potential risk factors.

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