Abuawad Mohammad, Saifi Motaz, Rabayaa Maha, Ghanim Mustafa, Alqub Malik, Zarura Tartil, Aldeek Diana, Khateeb Jomana, Abu Khalaf Salah, Dwikat Majdi, Alkhaldi Samar, Amer Johnny, Shawahna Ramzi
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine.
Department of Internship, Ministry of Health, Ramallah, Palestine.
PLoS One. 2025 May 22;20(5):e0324157. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0324157. eCollection 2025.
Adequate knowledge of the clinical conditions associated with stroke, including risk factors and warning signs, is critical for improving healthcare outcomes. This study assesses undergraduate health students' knowledge and attitudes toward stroke, including risk factors and warning signs.
A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 1006 Palestinian undergraduate health students from several universities enrolled in medicine, pharmacy, nursing, and other health-related disciplines between March 2024 and July 2024. A validated self-administered questionnaire from previous publications was used to assess knowledge of stroke risk factors and warning signs. Attitudes were assessed using a Likert scale. The data were analyzed via SPSS 21 for Windows. Frequencies and percentages were used to summarize demographic data, whereas chi-square tests were performed to assess the associations between demographic characteristics and participants' knowledge scores (good/poor).
Among the 1006 participants, 55.4% were females, and 37.5% were in their third academic year. More than 65% of the participants were aware of the stroke-affected organ and the most affected gender. Awareness of key stroke risk factors including hypertension, smoking, alcohol consumption, diabetes mellitus, family history, previous strokes, obesity, and high cholesterol was high. The students' knowledge scores varied significantly by gender, academic year of study, place of residence, and field of education (p-value <0.05). Having good knowledge about stroke was significantly greater in females than in males (OR: 2.699), and was greater in sixth- and fourth-year students than in second-year students (OR: 6.855 and 1.704, respectively). However, it was significantly lower among health science students compared to preclinical medicine students (OR: 0.257).
The current findings highlight the need for focused educational interventions, as medical students have greater awareness of stroke than their peers. Enhancing stroke awareness among health students is essential for facilitating early diagnosis and proper healthcare aid. Thus, targeting gaps in knowledge among health students should be part of broader efforts to improve stroke awareness.
充分了解与中风相关的临床情况，包括风险因素和警示信号，对于改善医疗保健结果至关重要。本研究评估了本科健康专业学生对中风的知识和态度，包括风险因素和警示信号。
在2024年3月至2024年7月期间，对来自几所大学的1006名巴勒斯坦本科健康专业学生进行了一项描述性横断面研究，这些学生就读于医学、药学、护理和其他健康相关专业。使用先前出版物中经过验证的自填式问卷来评估对中风风险因素和警示信号的了解。态度采用李克特量表进行评估。数据通过SPSS 21 for Windows进行分析。频率和百分比用于总结人口统计学数据，而卡方检验用于评估人口统计学特征与参与者知识得分（良好/较差）之间的关联。
在1006名参与者中，55.4%为女性，37.5%处于第三学年。超过65%的参与者知道中风影响的器官和受影响最严重的性别。对包括高血压、吸烟、饮酒、糖尿病、家族病史、既往中风、肥胖和高胆固醇在内的关键中风风险因素的知晓率较高。学生的知识得分因性别、学习学年、居住地点和教育领域而有显著差异（p值<0.05）。女性对中风有良好了解的比例显著高于男性（比值比：2.699），六年级和四年级学生高于二年级学生（分别为比值比：6.855和1.704）。然而，与临床前医学专业学生相比，健康科学专业学生的知晓率显著较低（比值比：0.257）。
目前的研究结果突出了针对性教育干预的必要性，因为医学生对中风的认识比同龄人更高。提高健康专业学生对中风的认识对于促进早期诊断和适当的医疗救助至关重要。因此，针对健康专业学生知识差距的目标应成为提高中风认识更广泛努力的一部分。
