CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Department of Psychology, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
BMJ Open. 2021 Jan 29;11(1):e043220. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-043220.
Stroke and ischaemic heart disease have become the leading causes of death in China. We evaluated recognition of stroke and heart attack symptoms and stroke treatment-seeking behaviour in a large representative sample of the Chinese adult population and explored characteristics associated with recognition rates.
Cross-sectional survey.
Household interviews.
3051 Chinese adults aged between 18 and 69 (50.7% female) were interviewed between January and March 2019.
Primary measures include recognitions of stroke and heart attack symptoms and stroke treatment-seeking behaviour. Secondary measures include numeracy level, sociodemographics and prior history of cardiovascular diseases and high blood pressure.
Participants on average recognised 5.2 out of 14 stroke symptoms and 2.6 out of 6 heart attack symptoms. In the presence of stroke symptoms, three quarters of participants would take immediate action and call an ambulance, yet the second most common action was to advise the person to see a doctor (59%) rather than to consult a doctor immediately (34%). Recognition of atypical heartattack symptoms, such as nausea and feeling of anxiety, was poor. Symptom recognition rates were higher in females, people with a personal or family/friend history of cardiovascular events, those with higher numeracy scores, and for stroke symptoms, participants with high (versus low) education level. Furthermore, symptom recognition rate was negatively correlated with burden of cardiovascular diseases across the four economic regions of China.
Recognition of stroke and heart-attack symptoms was moderate and there remains a gap between recognising symptoms and taking immediate action. Interventions focusing on simple symptom detection tools and on building numerical competencies may help reduce the burden of cardiovascular diseases in China.
中风和缺血性心脏病已成为中国的主要死亡原因。我们评估了中国成年人样本中中风和心脏病发作症状的识别以及对中风的治疗寻求行为，并探讨了与识别率相关的特征。
横断面调查。
家庭访谈。
2019 年 1 月至 3 月期间对 3051 名年龄在 18 至 69 岁之间的中国成年人（50.7%为女性）进行了访谈。
主要措施包括识别中风和心脏病发作症状以及寻求中风治疗的行为。次要措施包括计算能力水平、社会人口统计学以及心血管疾病和高血压的既往史。
参与者平均能识别出 14 种中风症状中的 5.2 种，6 种心脏病发作症状中的 2.6 种。在出现中风症状的情况下，有四分之三的参与者会立即采取行动并叫救护车，但第二常见的行动是建议患者去看医生（59%），而不是立即咨询医生（34%）。对非典型心脏病发作症状的识别，如恶心和焦虑感，较差。女性、有个人或家庭/朋友心血管事件史、计算能力得分较高的人以及中风症状中受过较高（而非较低）教育的人，症状识别率较高。此外，症状识别率与中国四个经济区域的心血管疾病负担呈负相关。
对中风和心脏病发作症状的识别率适中，在识别症状和立即采取行动之间存在差距。关注简单症状检测工具和建立数字能力的干预措施可能有助于减轻中国心血管疾病的负担。
