Comparison of knowledge on stroke for stroke patients and the general population in Burkina Faso: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background In many parts of Africa, there is limited information on awareness of symptoms of stroke, risk factors for stroke and willingness for stroke prevention, both in the general population and in people with stroke. Knowledge and preventive efforts for stroke in patients with a history of the illness are rarely investigated. This study aims to investigate awareness of stroke symptoms in stroke patients who were admitted to hospitals within 72 hours of a confirmed stroke event in Burkina Faso. This study also aims to investigate preventive behavior for stroke for the general population. Methods Face-to-face interviews were conducted with the participants. The sample included 110 first-time stroke patients who had been admitted to one of three tertiary teaching hospitals in Burkina Faso within 72 hours and 750 participants from the general population, who were recruited through clustered sampling. Knowledge of stroke warning signs and current and future efforts on stroke prevention were also assessed. Results Only 30.9% of the stroke patients believed that they were at risk before the stroke episode. Obvious warning signs were unfamiliar to both groups. Only 1.3% of the respondents from the general population group knew sudden weakness face arm or leg as a sign of stroke. For all future efforts in stroke prevention, stroke patients demonstrated significantly lower willingness to undertake behavioral changes than the general population. Sixty-six percent and 85% of the stroke patients and the general population, respectively, were willing to take steps to reduce blood pressure. Conclusion Public education on stroke warning signs and strategies to increase willingness to engage in preventive behaviors are urgent in African countries. Strategies to improve public awareness for developing countries such as Burkina Faso should be designed differently from that of developed countries to incorporate local beliefs.

Usability and feasibility of PreventS-MD web app for stroke prevention

“…One month follow-up of the patients confirmed the high level of satisfaction/acceptability of PreventS-MD and self-reported adherence to the recommendations. In line with previous observations, 14,[36][37][38] our HCP survey identified a clear gap between current evidence-based knowledge in stroke prevention and the awareness and knowledge of the general population, with a lack of motivation of individuals at increased risk of stroke to modify and control their risk factors.…”

“…Foad Abd-Allah; 1 Rufus Akinyemi; 2 Reza Azarpazhooh; 3 Anjali Bhatia; 4 Philip M. Bath; 5 Carol Brayne; 6 Hrvoje Budincevic; 7 Nicholas Child; 8 Kamil Chwojnicki; 9 Manuel Correia; 10 Alan Davis; 11 Gerry Devlin; 12 Vida Demarin; 13 Rajinder K. Dhamija; 14 Ding Ding; 15 Klara Dokova; 16 Makarena Dudley; 17 Jesse Dyer; 4 Misty Edmonds; 18 Marcela Ely; 19 Mehdi Farhoudi; 20 Svetlana Feigin; 21 Caroline Fornolles; 22 Aznida Firzah Abdul Aziz; 23 Denis Gabriel; 24 Seana Gall; 25 Artyom Gil; 26 Elena Gnedovskaya; 27 Ann George; 4 Michal Haršány; 19 Matire Harwood; 28 Argye Hillis; 29 Zeng-Guang Hou; 30 Kevin Hwang; 31 Norlinah Ibrahim; 23 Tania Ka'ai; 32 Nidhi Kalra; 33 Judith Katzenellenbogen; 34 Law Zhe Kang; 23 Arindam Kar; 35 Bartosz Karaszewski; 36 Vitalij Kazin; 37 Miia Kivipelto; 38 Saltanat Kamenova; 39 Aida Kondybaeva; 39 Pablo Lavados; 40 Tsong-Hai Lee; 41 Liping Liu; 42 Karim Mahawish; 35 Michal Maluchnik; 43…”

Knowledge about Stroke among Workers in Public and Private Enterprises in Brazzaville and Their Attitudes towards Stroke Victims

“…A good knowledge of the natural origin of stroke was noted in our study (score = 84.5%). Our data is similar to that found in Burkina Faso (score = 85%) [39]. The belief in a supernatural or mystical origin, observed in our series (5.5%) and in studies conducted in Ivory Coast (50.9%) [38] and in Burkina Faso (15%) [39], could be explained by traditional conceptions of disease in African societies, which often attribute a mystical origin to disease [40] [41] [42].…”

Awareness of Acute Stroke Among the General Population in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia

“…However, according to a prior study, they are unsure of how to adequately prevent it [17]. In addition, individuals at high risk of stroke do not follow prevention advice even when medical professionals verbally advise them to do so [18]. Individuals understand that emergency medical interventions are immediately required for stroke treatment [19,20], but one interesting finding in the current study is that only 11.3% (n=61) of participants were aware of the exact timeframe of thrombolytic administration.…”