Elshebiny Ahmed, Almuhanna Mohammed, AlRamadan Mohammed, Aldawood Mohammed, Aljomeah Zuhair
Internal Medicine, Diabetes and Endocinology, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Shebin El Kom, EGY.
Internal Medicine, Diabetes and Endocrinology, College of Medicine, King Faisal University, Al Hofuf, SAU.
Cureus. 2023 Feb 22;15(2):e35337. doi: 10.7759/cureus.35337. eCollection 2023 Feb.
Objectives This study aims to measure the level of awareness about stroke symptoms, risk factors, and preventive health practices that could be taken to reduce the risk of stroke among diabetic patients in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia in 2020. The sample included a total of 202 male and female Saudi adults aged 18-65 years, with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus, and living in Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. The information was collected randomly through an online questionnaire distributed among patients after getting their contact information from relevant governmental and private diabetes clinics and after signing the informed consent. For awareness and knowledge items, each correct answer was scored one point and the total summation of the discrete scores of the different items was calculated. A diabetic patient with a score less than 60% of the total score was considered to have poor awareness while a score of 60% or more of the total score was considered a good level of awareness. Results A total of 87 (43.1%) participants had an overall good awareness level, while 115 (56.9%) had poor awareness levels. Around 40.6% of the study patients had heard about stroke, 61.9% knew that stroke affects the brain, and 24.3% reported that stroke is higher among males. As for factors associated with stroke, the most reported was high blood pressure (71.8%), followed by diabetes mellitus (69.3%). Exactly 65.8% of participants knew about the mechanism of ischemic stroke and 42.6% reported hemorrhagic stroke. A high percentage of patients (73.1%) realize that they could reduce their risk of stroke. Conclusion The findings of the current study showed that less than half (43.1%) of the Saudi patients with DM had a good awareness level regarding stroke and its related risk factors and warning signs. Older patients (aged 50-65 years) with high social levels (high education and income) and those with a family history of stroke had significantly higher awareness levels. Hypertension, DM, and smoking are the highest reported known risk factors of stroke, and speech disorders are the highest known stroke presentation to the respondents.
目的 本研究旨在衡量沙特阿拉伯艾哈萨地区糖尿病患者对中风症状、风险因素以及可采取的预防保健措施的认知水平，以降低中风风险。方法 2020年在沙特阿拉伯艾哈萨进行了一项横断面研究。样本包括202名年龄在18 - 65岁之间、患有1型或2型糖尿病且居住在沙特阿拉伯艾哈萨的沙特成年男女。在从相关政府和私立糖尿病诊所获取患者联系信息并签署知情同意书后，通过在线问卷随机收集信息。对于认知和知识项目，每个正确答案得1分，并计算不同项目离散分数的总和。糖尿病患者得分低于总分60%被认为认知较差，而得分达到总分60%或更高则被认为认知水平良好。结果 共有87名（43.1%）参与者总体认知水平良好，而115名（56.9%）认知水平较差。约40.6%的研究患者听说过中风，61.9%知道中风会影响大脑，24.3%报告称男性中风发生率更高。至于与中风相关的因素，报告最多的是高血压（71.8%），其次是糖尿病（69.3%）。恰好65.8%的参与者了解缺血性中风的机制，42.6%报告了出血性中风。高比例的患者（73.1%）意识到他们可以降低中风风险。结论 本研究结果表明，沙特糖尿病患者中不到一半（43.1%）对中风及其相关风险因素和警示信号有良好的认知水平。社会水平较高（高学历和高收入）且有中风家族史的老年患者（50 - 65岁）认知水平显著更高。高血压、糖尿病和吸烟是报告最多的已知中风风险因素，言语障碍是受访者最熟知的中风表现。
