Survey On Awarence Of Stroke-related Knowledge Among Community Residents In Yuzhong District,Chongqing

Objective To investigate awareness of stroke-related knowledge（including stroke warning signs, activating to make an emergency call,thrombolytic therapy for acute ischemic stroke, stroke risk factors and theperceived risk for developing stroke）among residents of Yuzhong Districtin Chongqing,China, and to analyze the association among them.Methods A multi-stage sampling approach was utilized to select1,500households in3streets of Yuzhong District, and one member of eachhousehold was chosen to join the survey. A face to face investigation wasconducted by trained interviewers. We assessed not only residents’awareness of stroke warning signs and thrombolysis therapy knowledge butalso the proportion of respondents who would call the emergency number,120in response to sudden stroke symptoms and analyzed the relationshipbetween stroke warning signs and awareness of calling120. The prevalenceof respondents with stroke risk factors, the awareness of perceived risk forstroke and the association between perceived risk and stroke risk factors were also examined.Results A total of1101participants completed the survey. The ratesof awareness for each stroke warning symptom ranged from30.7%-75.6%among these respondents, and only15.6%of them knew all five warningsigns of stroke. The proportion of respondents who would choose to call120if suddenly encountering a variety of stroke warning signs ranged from27.6%-43.2%; only17.6%of respondents would call120for all the fiveexamined stroke warning signs. Awareness of stroke warning signs wassignificantly associated with the response of calling120(odds ratio (OR):1.92-3.34). However, even among respondents who knew all five warningsigns of stroke, only35.5%(95%confidence interval (CI):28.3-42.6) wouldchoose to call120for all these signs.Only23.3%(95%CI,20.8-25.8) were aware of thrombolytic therapyfor acute ischemic stroke,59.9%(95%CI,53.9-65.9) of whom knew timewindow of thrombolytic therapy. Awareness of thrombolytic therapy washigher among young people, higher level of education and householdincome, those with health insurance and those who knew all5strokewarning signs. While awareness of the time window was higher among thoseaged75years and older. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showedthat awareness of thrombolytic therapy was independently associated withage, education level, health insurance and knowledge of stroke warningsigns.(P<0.05). The highest prevalence of stroke risk factors of respondents washypertension (29.6%), the lowest was previous stroke (7.1%). Only16.3%ofrespondents perceived themselves to be at risk for having a stroke. In themultivariate analyses, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, heart disease and ahistory of stroke were independently associated with perceived risk forstroke. Perceived risk for stroke increased as the number of risk factorsincreased (P <0.001).Conclusions1. Community residents exhibited low awarenessregarding not only stroke warning signs but also appropriate emergencyresponses to stroke-related symptoms.2. They have poor awareness ofthrombolytic therapy for acute ischemic stroke.3. Most communityresidents with stroke risk factors do not perceive themselves to be at riskfor stroke. In the future，to effectively reduce the prehospital delay forstroke victims, there is a need to ensure that community residents not onlybecome more aware of stroke symptoms but also become more consciousof the appropriate emergency response to a suspected stroke and knowledgeabout thrombolytic therapy. The awareness of the risk for stroke has yet tobe enhanced among community residents to contribute to the interventionof stroke risk factors and the reduction in the incidence of stroke.