Investigation On Stroke Related Knowledge Among Hospitalized Patients With Previous Stroke Or TIA

Objective:To research the knowledge about stroke warning signs, emergency response, risk factors and the risk awareness of secondary stroke in hospitalized patients with previous stroke or transient ischemic attacks(TIA) in Chongqing and to investigate the relationship between them.Methods:A self-made questionnaire was administered to 500 patients with stroke/TIA diagnose from three hospitals, including the First Affiliated Hospital and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University and the emergency center in Chongqing. A face to face survey was conducted, and the results were collected and analyzed.Results:1) A total of 480 patients completed the investigation. 2) The cognitive rate of each stroke warning signs ranged from 28.8%-78.3%, among these patients, only 19.2% recognized all five warning signs of stroke, and 89% recognized at least 1 stroke warning signs. When suffering from the stroke warning signs, 37.9%-44.0% patients chose to call 120, and only 28.1% of them would call 120 for all the five examined stroke warning signs. However, only 17.6% of patients recognized all five stroke warning signs and chose to call 120 for each warning signs of stroke. 3) 40.8% of patients had the risk awareness of secondary stroke. Hypertension(32.7%) was the most frequently identified risk factor of all the stroke risk factors. 43.3% of the patients failed to report the stroke risk factors. Only 6.7% of the patients identified more than 4 correct stroke risk factors. However, the respondents who were able to identify stroke risk factors had higher risk awareness of secondary stroke(54.0%) than those were not(23.6%)(P < 0.05). Among all the patients, 60% thought stroke was a preventable disease. The healthy diet(49.8%) and proper exercises(34.9%) were the most frequently reported measures.Conclusions: Patients’ knowledge about stroke warning signs, activating to make an emergency call, stroke risk factors were very poor, even though they had a history of stroke/TIA, and they were at high risk for secondary stroke. Stroke education is needed to improve the knowledge of stroke among the patients.