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The purpose of this study was to assess the awareness of warning signs of stroke and identify the risk factors influencing such awareness among diabetics with hypertension who are at a high risk for stroke. Methods: Data from the 2017 Korea Community Health Survey were used. A total of 15,536 adults older than 30 years diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes mellitus were included in the final analysis. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, x 2 test, and logistic regression with SPSS/WIN 24.0 program. Results: Among the five warning signs of stroke, "sudden trouble in speaking or understanding" (79.0%) was the most commonly identified one and "sudden severe headache with an unknown cause" (65.2%) was the least. Only 48.8% participants identified all five warning signs and 11.8% could not identify any of them. In the logistic regression model, the risk of unawareness of warning signs of stroke was significantly higher among those aged 30~49 years and 70 years or older, with a lower educational level, without a spouse, and with a heavy alcohol consumption and current smoking status. Conclusion: The level of awareness of warning signs was low in hypertensive diabetic adults. To improve awareness of warning signs of stroke, a customized educational program should be provided to hypertensive diabetic adults considering the risk factors relevant to unawareness of warning signs of stroke. The education on warning signs of stroke can potentially lead to a reduction in morbidity in the survivors.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the awareness level of myocardial infarction (MI) symptoms for the residents in the underserved and deserved emergency medical services areas and verify the effect of the existence of residence in the underserved emergency medical services areas on the awareness of MI symptoms. Methods: This is a cross sectional study by using the data of the 2017 Korea Community Health Survey. The residence in the underserved emergency medical services areas is defined as being targeted to the residents in 101 areas notified in ⸢Emergency Medical Service Act⸥. The awareness of MI symptoms was classified as being aware of all five items of MI symptoms. Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) are computed by multivariable logistic regression. Results: Of the total 195,246 subjects, 43.6% were aware of MI symptoms (43.7% and 43.6% of underserved and deserved emergency medical services areas, respectively). The residence in the underserved emergency medical services areas was associated with the awareness of MI symptoms (aOR 1.15, 95% CI=1.11-1.18). In addition, this study has found that gender, age, education level, income level, occupation, subjective stress level, drinking frequency, current smoking, and diagnosis of hypertension and diabetes were factors influencing the awareness of MI symptoms. Conclusions: Continuous efforts are needed to increase the awareness of MI symptoms for the residents in the underserved and deserved emergency medical services areas. Education and promotion should be conducted in consideration of gender, age, education level, income level, and occupation to improve the awareness of MI symptoms.

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