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KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS OF STROKE AMONG THE COMMUNITY: A CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY IN TABUK CITY, SAUDI ARABIA

1Ahmed Yassin Alrefaei, 2‏Ahmed Hussain Alshaikhi, 3‏Waled Mohammed Albalawi, 4‏Abdulaziz Saad Alharthi, 5Khalid Mohammed Albalawi.

Background: The overall global burden of stroke or cerebrovascular accident in Saudi Arabia is great and increasing. The community knowledge of stroke symptoms has an effect on early recognition and thereby the mortality and morbidity rates. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitude of the community about stroke risk factors and symptoms in Tabuk city, Saudi Arabia. Methods: In this cross sectional study, questionnaires were distributed on a random sample from the population of Tabuk city after obtaining an informed consent. A total of 350 study participants were enrolled into this study. Results: Two hundred and thirty six (67.4%) of participants were females with a median age (IQR) of 29 (21–40) years. More than half (52.3%) of the participants correctly identified stroke as a disorder of the brain. Two hundred and seventy two subjects (77.7 %) knew at least one risk factor for stroke, and 44.5% of them identified that a combination of hypertension, atherosclerosis, obesity and smoking are stroke risk factors. Most of participants (74.0%) knew warning signs of stroke. Analysis of factors associated with knowledge of one or more warning signs revealed only a significant relationship with the knowledge of stroke risk factors (p>0.05). Nearly half (55.1%) of the participants showed a positive attitude of rapid seeking of medical help by going to hospital either at once or after calling general practitioner or family physician. Conclusion: There was a lack of knowledge about the organ affected and warning signs of stroke. Also, the proper attitude in cases of stroke was not clear to all participants. This requires more awareness strategies including health education by specialists. Keywords: stroke; cerebrovascular accident; survey; knowledge; attitude; perception; Saudi Arabia.

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