A CROSS SECTIONAL SURVEY ON AWARENESS ABOUT STROKE AMONG STROKE PATIENTS AND THEIR BYSTANDERS FROM A TERTIARY CARE CENTRE, KERALA

Background Stroke is the leading cause of death and functional impairment accounting a major burden of global non-communicable diseases (1, 2). The knowledge about stroke, risk factors and warning signs among the patients and bystanders is an unexplored area (1). The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge of stroke risk factors and warning signs among patients and bystanders. Materials and methods Patients diagnosed with current andrecurrent stroke of age > 18 years were recruited from in-patient units of stroke medicine department at Amrita institute of medical science and research centre from October 2020 to April 2021.Those patients with sufficient communicative ability were included in the survey and those with severe aphasia, limiting the comprehension were excluded from the survey. A structured closed-ended study questionnaire was used to collect the data regarding the baseline characteristics and to assess the knowledge on stroke among the participants (patients and bystanders). Participants were interviewed to answer questions regarding the demographic characteristics, risk factors, awareness about stroke and its warning signs by the research personal. The data were analysed using SPSS version 21.