Krzystanek Ewa, Krzak-Kubica Agnieszka, Świat Maciej, Galus Weronika, Gawryluk Justyna
Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, ul. Medykow 14, 40-752 Katowice, Poland.
Department of Neurology, University Central Hospital, Katowice, ul. Medykow 14, 40-752 Katowice, Poland.
Brain Sci. 2020 Dec 18;10(12):1009. doi: 10.3390/brainsci10121009.
Stroke is the third most common cause of mortality in developed countries and the primary cause of neurological disability in adults. Recombinant tissue plasminogen activator administered intravenously within 4.5 h from the onset of symptoms constitutes a gold standard in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. Prompt hospital admission is the prerequisite of effective thrombolysis. Therefore, stroke awareness in the general population is the key factor in timely recognition of the acute stroke victims and determines proper actions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the awareness of stroke in the general population of the Silesian voivodeship, the most populated region of Poland. We assessed also the "adequate knowledge of stroke", a combined measure of the optimal level of stroke awareness, as a prerequisite for effective stroke management, and aimed to identify most impacting factor for adequate stoke knowledge, to help shaping education strategies.
A proprietary anonymous questionnaire consisting of 15 items related to stroke was used in this research. A total of 1134 individuals were surveyed. Additionally to the knowledge of individual aspects of stroke, we assessed "adequate knowledge of stroke", which was combined measure of risk factors, symptoms, and actions in the case of acute stroke.
The accurate definition of stroke was selected by 834 participants (73.5%). The vast majority of them indicated that a stroke is an emergency (92.8%) and medical assistance is required (97.5%). However, 42.4% of respondents did not know any specific symptom of stroke and only 38.6% participants were able to list two or more risk factors, which resulted in only 36.3% of individuals with adequate knowledge of stroke. Education duration, previous occurrence of stroke in relatives or friends, gender and place of residence were identified as independent predictors of adequate knowledge of stroke.
中风是发达国家第三大常见死因，也是成年人神经功能障碍的主要原因。在症状发作后4.5小时内静脉注射重组组织型纤溶酶原激活剂是急性缺血性中风治疗的金标准。及时入院是有效溶栓的前提条件。因此，普通人群的中风意识是及时识别急性中风患者并确定适当行动的关键因素。所以，本研究的目的是确定波兰人口最多的西里西亚省普通人群的中风意识。我们还评估了“中风的充分知识”，这是中风意识最佳水平的综合衡量指标，是有效中风管理的前提条件，并旨在确定对充分中风知识影响最大的因素，以帮助制定教育策略。
本研究使用了一份包含15项与中风相关问题的专有匿名问卷。共对1134人进行了调查。除了中风各个方面的知识外，我们还评估了“中风的充分知识”，这是对急性中风情况下风险因素、症状及行动的综合衡量指标。
834名参与者（73.5%）选择了中风的准确定义。其中绝大多数人表示中风是紧急情况（92.8%）且需要医疗救助（97.5%）。然而，42.4%的受访者不知道任何中风的具体症状，只有38.6%的参与者能够列出两个或更多风险因素，这导致只有36.3%的人具备中风的充分知识。教育时长、亲属或朋友中曾有中风发作、性别和居住地点被确定为中风充分知识的独立预测因素。
