Awareness of Symptoms and Risk Factors of Stroke among Patients Attending a Tertiary Care Hospital, Tamil Nadu, India

Introduction: Stroke is one of the common causes of death. Poor awareness about risk factors contributes to the high occurrence of cardiovascular diseases like stroke. The study started with the objective to assess knowledge of symptoms and predisposing factors of stroke, and to estimate level of ca...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Selvam Paramasivam, Govindarajan Ramalingam, A. R. Parveen Gani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2025-01-01
Series:Journal of Applied Sciences and Clinical Practice
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jascp.jascp_52_24
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Summary:Introduction: Stroke is one of the common causes of death. Poor awareness about risk factors contributes to the high occurrence of cardiovascular diseases like stroke. The study started with the objective to assess knowledge of symptoms and predisposing factors of stroke, and to estimate level of cardiovascular risk. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among hypertensive and diabetic follow-up patients attending noncommunicable disease centers during July–December 2023. All the eligible patients were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. The 10-year cardiovascular risk was calculated according to World Health Organization nonlaboratory-based charts and the score was classified into five groups as per chart. Results: The study included 110 (37.8%) male participants and 181 (62.2%) female participants and the average age was 58.7 ± 10.4 years. About three-fourths of the participants could identify at least one warning symptom of stroke. Around 28.2% of participants had a history of developing symptoms related to transient ischemic attack in the past and the most common symptom was transient dizziness (23%). Approximately 12.4% of participants had a history of stroke among first-degree relatives and 43 (14.8%) were using tobacco. There were 264 (90.7%) participants aged between 40 and 74 years for whom the 10-year risk of cardiovascular event was calculated and the majority (65.1%) had risk score of <10%. Conclusion: The majority of participants were able to correctly identify symptoms of stroke, what needs to be done after stroke, and where and when to reach the hospital. However, they need to be educated on the predisposing factors of stroke and its prevention.
ISSN:2772-364X
2772-3658