(Stroke. 2002;33:1173.)
© 2002 American Heart Association, Inc.
Editorials |
Awareness: The First Step to Action
From the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.
Correspondence to Dr Vladimir Hachinski, University of Western Ontario, University Hospital, 339 Windermere Rd, PO Box 5339, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5A5.
Humans have the greatest capacity for foresight but the least inclination to use it. Although 35% of Americans say that they or someone close to them have had a stroke, only 1% worry about it. The statistics resulted from a telephone survey of 1000 adults representative of the US demographics conducted by the American Heart Association.1 Moreover, only a minority know what to do to prevent a stroke. When asked what was the most important thing that they could do to prevent stroke, 23% answered controlling high blood pressure, 18% said exercising regularly, and 17% mentioned eating healthy. Most distressing of all, 73% of respondents with stroke experience said that their doctors had not discussed risk factors with them.
The situation is not much better elsewhere in the world. A survey of an urban population in Australia showed that 39.4% identified smoking and 33.7% named stress as risk factors for stroke.2 The good news, however, is that educational campaigns work. A survey conducted in Germany established that only 8% of participants knew that paralysis was a manifestation of stroke. Similarly, only 4% recognized that speech problems could be a symptom of stroke. However, a repeat survey 10 months later, after an awareness campaign, in- creased the realization to 22% and 14%, respectively, that paralysis and speech problems portend stroke (O.P.J. Busse, MD, et al, unpublished data, 2002). Similarly, continuous television advertising over 46 weeks in Canada raised the awareness of 2 or more warning symptoms of stroke, from 36% to 62%.3
May is American Stroke Month and a good opportunity to share information that leads to action. Health professionals can access information at www.americanstroke.org, and patients can call 1-888-4-STROKE. Only increasing awareness among health professionals, policy-makers, and the public can begin to close the huge gap between knowledge and practice.4
References
1. American Heart Association News Media Relations, 2002.
2.
Yoon SS, Heller RF, Levi C, Wiggers J, Fitzgerald P, Knowledge of stroke risk factors, warning symptoms, and treatment among an Australian urban population. Stroke. 2001; 32: 1926–1930.
3. Taggart K. Ontario ad campaign helps raise stroke awareness: stroke update. The Medical Post. 2002: 19.
4.
Hachinski V. Stroke: the next 30 years. Stroke. 2002; 33: 1–4.
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