Knowledge on Prevention of Cerebro Vascular Accident among Patients with Diabetes and Hypertension in India

Background- Meeting the need for knowledge relating to the nature of stroke and risk factors for stroke is still a substantial challenge in the World. Lack of knowledge about stroke in general and specific knowledge of the risk factors, signs, and symptoms of stroke results in the late presentation of patients at hospital. The result is delay in prompt initiation of stroke management and non-compliance with follow-up rehabilitation. So there is a need to empower people to take control of their own health. The study was aimed to investigate the level of knowledge of stroke among diabetes and hypertension patients regarding cerebrovascular accident and to find out the association between the level of knowledge of patients on cerebrovascular accident and their selected demographic variables. Methodology- A descriptive quantitative design using a cross-sectional survey was used to collect data. The sample comprised of 70 patients with Diabetes mellites or hypertension and who met the inclusion criteria were selected for the study using simple random sampling method. Results- The findings revealed that only 8 patients (11.43 %) had adequate knowledge and 32 (45.71 %) had inadequate knowledge on prevention of CVA. The variables like age, sex, marital status, educational status, occupation, monthly family income, duration of illness and duration of treatment had significant association with the level of knowledge at P less than 0.05 level. Conclusion- This study has created an awareness about the necessity of planning health education programmes on focussing this risk group for CVA. Education and support can help the diabetes and hypertensive patients to take necessary measures to have control over their Blood sugar and blood pressure levels inorder to prevent the complication of CVA.