Poor awareness of stroke educational tools among older adults in China

Abstract

Background: Stroke 1-2-0 and FAST (Face, Arm, Speech, Time) are two popular stroke educational tools that have been used in many stroke promotion campaigns. However, few researchers have investigated awareness of these tools among older adults in communities. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional survey of community-living older adults. Two family physicians conducted face-to-face interviews with older adults living in Minhang district, Shanghai, between October 1, 2020 and November 31, 2020. The survey comprised three parts: basic information, prior medical history, and stroke awareness knowledge. We focused on the awareness of FAST and Stroke 1-2-0 and investigated factors associated with awareness of these stroke educational tools. Results: The sample of this study was 466 older adults. Their mean age was 73.45 years. Male respondents accounted for 46.14% of the total sample. More than half of the older adults surveyed had an educational background of less than 6 years. Over 90% of the older adults surveyed had never heard about Stroke 1-2-0 or FAST. The awareness rate of Stroke 1-2-0 and FAST was 7.94%, with awareness of Stroke 1-2-0 being higher than that of FAST (6.01% vs. 0.43%, p