Perceptions of Stroke Risks among West African Male Immigrants in San Diego: A Qualitative Investigation

Abstract

There are few studies that focus on the health beliefs, knowledge and perceptions of stroke in West African populations, especially English-speaking male immigrants residing in San Diego, California. Health promotion targeting to control stroke must take into consideration the community's awareness of the warning signs and risk factors of this disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of culture in defining the perception and understanding of the warning signs and risk factors of stroke among male English speaking foreign-born West African immigrants in San Diego. This qualitative study employed an ethnographic methodology involving 8 male participants, 4 each from the Nigerian and Ghanaian communities in San Diego, and applied the principle of saturation. An unstructured in-depth interview was used to collect data from the participants who were recruited through snowball and network sampling framework. A thematic approach was used in the data analysis. The data obtained)