Awareness of stroke in the population presenting to outpatient clinics at a tertiary health institution

Abstract

Objective: Stroke is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In recent years, the importance of the awareness of this disease has increased by the use of time-based emergency treatments such as intravenous thrombolysis and thrombectomy. In order for patients to benefit from these treatments, society needs to have enough awareness of stroke. Materials and Methods: In our study, we aimed to determine the awareness of stroke by using a questionnaire on a population presenting to a university hospital. Results: Two hundred participants were included. The average of age was 34.9±14.3 (range, 18-78) years. The participants knew the word paralysis (felç) more (82.5%) than stroke (inme) (50%). The most known symptom/sign of stroke was weakness and loss of sensation on one side of arm and leg; the least known sign of stroke was visual loss. Only 5 out of 200 participants were aware of all stroke symptoms. Conclusion: Society needs to be informed more about stroke in order for patients to benefit from these emergency treatments.