Awareness, Recognition, and Response to Stroke among the General Public—An Observational Study

Objective To evaluate awareness and response to stroke among the general public. Materials and Methods In this prospective, observational study, self-reported stroke awareness questionnaire was administered in 2000 consecutive participants who visited outpatient clinic of a tertiary care hospital. For data analysis, comparison included for awareness of stroke and response in case of stroke. Results The average age of the study participants was 39.64 ± 15.55 (17–85), with 651(32.6%) women. Among the respondents, 786(39.3%) participants mentioned stroke as blood clot in the brain; 268(13.4%) stated it as brain hemorrhage. Awareness of stroke was higher in people in cities (71.0 vs. 8.5%; p < 0.001) and graduates (75.3 vs. 60.9%; p < 0.001) or knew a family member or friend who had stroke (42.7 vs. 30.4%; p < 0.001). Most commonly recognized risk factors included stress (1,152; 57.6%) and hypertension (1,148; 57.4%). Most identified warning sign was weakness of one side of body (807; 40.4%) and speech impairment (658; 32.9%). Participants who were aware of stroke knew a greater number of risk factors (3.75 ± 2.88 vs. 2.45 ± 2.66; p < 0.001) and warning signs (2.85 ± 2.25 vs. 1.49 ± 1.41; p <0.001). Among 1,138 participants who were aware of stroke, 166 (14.6%) participants knew one correct response in case of a stroke, either call a doctor (49.3 vs. 35.0%; p <0.001) or call an ambulance (41.1 vs. 34.9%; p = 0.055). Participants who knew one correct response to stroke had at least a family member/friend who had stroke (44.1 vs. 34.3%; p < 0.022). Conclusion We report that among 56.9% of the participants who were aware of stroke most could not name more than four risk factors or three warning signs of stroke. Only 14.6% of those aware of stroke knew appropriate response to stroke.