Rüdiger Rau1, Monika Mensing. 1. Kreis Wesel, Fachbereich Gesundheitswesen, Geschäftsstelle der Kommunalen Gesundheitskonferenz (KGK), Moers, Germany. ruediger.rau@kreis-wesel.de
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: From 2003 to 2008, the program "Healthy Lower Rhine ... against Stroke" was carried out by the Healthy Lower Rhine Network consisting of Health-Conference agencies of six neighboring districts and municipalities. The initiative aims primarily at improving public knowledge on stroke with regard to proper action - "A stroke is a medical emergency, so phone the emergency number 112 immediately!" - and stroke warning signs and symptoms. The campaign is designed to eventually reduce prehospital time, i.e., delays from onset of symptoms to hospital delivery. In the Wesel district (North Rhine-Westphalia [NRW]) the local Health Conference commissioned two representative telephone surveys with a T(0) survey before the start of the program in 2003 and T(1) in 2008 prior to the end of the 5 years' runtime. METHODS: The telephone survey was carried out by the CATI Laboratory (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews) of the Survey Center for Social Science (SUZ) in Duisburg in collaboration with the Institute of Health and Work NRW (LIGA.NRW) and the Health-Conference agency of the Wesel district. The study population was the adult community with about 385,000 inhabitants. The random sample comprised 1,089 persons for the T(0) survey (02/18/02-03/28/02) and 1,104 persons were interviewed for the T(1) poll (03/18/08-04/05/08). RESULTS: While in 2002 a proportion of 31.9% of the interviewed persons knew not a single correct stroke symptom, in 2008 this portion amounted to 27.3%. Three or more correct signs were mentioned by 18.6% in the T0 survey versus 25.5% in 2008 (T(1) survey). Symptoms which were mentioned significantly more frequently in 2008 than in 2002 were hemiplegia and dropping corner of the mouth (+5.3%), respectively, numbness/paresthesia (+17.9%), trouble speaking or understanding (+6.1%), and trouble seeing/visual impairment (+4.3%). When being asked: "What would you do in case of stroke?", 69% of the answers in 2008 were correct (call emergency number 112). There were no significant differences in knowledge of risk factors. About 25% of participants in 2008 stated, that they remembered the stroke awareness campaign or related events. CONCLUSION: The present study shows a moderate improvement of community knowledge about stroke with respect to symptoms and proper action in the course of the 5 years' public-health intervention. In comparison to similar surveys performed in 2000 and 2004, especially knowledge of correct action in case of emergency (stroke = medical emergency = call 112) improved. Still, there are persisting gaps in knowledge about stroke in the community, which make further efforts of improving this knowledge recommendable.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: From 2003 to 2008, the program "Healthy Lower Rhine ... against Stroke" was carried out by the Healthy Lower Rhine Network consisting of Health-Conference agencies of six neighboring districts and municipalities. The initiative aims primarily at improving public knowledge on stroke with regard to proper action - "A stroke is a medical emergency, so phone the emergency number 112 immediately!" - and stroke warning signs and symptoms. The campaign is designed to eventually reduce prehospital time, i.e., delays from onset of symptoms to hospital delivery. In the Wesel district (North Rhine-Westphalia [NRW]) the local Health Conference commissioned two representative telephone surveys with a T(0) survey before the start of the program in 2003 and T(1) in 2008 prior to the end of the 5 years' runtime. METHODS: The telephone survey was carried out by the CATI Laboratory (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews) of the Survey Center for Social Science (SUZ) in Duisburg in collaboration with the Institute of Health and Work NRW (LIGA.NRW) and the Health-Conference agency of the Wesel district. The study population was the adult community with about 385,000 inhabitants. The random sample comprised 1,089 persons for the T(0) survey (02/18/02-03/28/02) and 1,104 persons were interviewed for the T(1) poll (03/18/08-04/05/08). RESULTS: While in 2002 a proportion of 31.9% of the interviewed persons knew not a single correct stroke symptom, in 2008 this portion amounted to 27.3%. Three or more correct signs were mentioned by 18.6% in the T0 survey versus 25.5% in 2008 (T(1) survey). Symptoms which were mentioned significantly more frequently in 2008 than in 2002 were hemiplegia and dropping corner of the mouth (+5.3%), respectively, numbness/paresthesia (+17.9%), trouble speaking or understanding (+6.1%), and trouble seeing/visual impairment (+4.3%). When being asked: "What would you do in case of stroke?", 69% of the answers in 2008 were correct (call emergency number 112). There were no significant differences in knowledge of risk factors. About 25% of participants in 2008 stated, that they remembered the stroke awareness campaign or related events. CONCLUSION: The present study shows a moderate improvement of community knowledge about stroke with respect to symptoms and proper action in the course of the 5 years' public-health intervention. In comparison to similar surveys performed in 2000 and 2004, especially knowledge of correct action in case of emergency (stroke = medical emergency = call 112) improved. Still, there are persisting gaps in knowledge about stroke in the community, which make further efforts of improving this knowledge recommendable.
Authors: Alexander T Schneider; Arthur M Pancioli; Jane C Khoury; Eric Rademacher; Alfred Tuchfarber; Rosemary Miller; Daniel Woo; Brett Kissela; Joseph P Broderick Journal: JAMA Date: 2003-01-15 Impact factor: 56.272
Authors: Angela M Malek; Robert J Adams; Ellen Debenham; Andrea D Boan; Abby S Kazley; Hyacinth I Hyacinth; Jenifer H Voeks; Daniel T Lackland Journal: J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis Date: 2014-09-10 Impact factor: 2.136