Knowledge of Risk Factors, and Warning Signs of Stroke: A Systematic Review from a Gender Perspective

Abstract

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death globally. Awareness of stroke risk factors and warning signs are important for stroke prevention and seeking care. The purpose of this systematic review was to review existing literature that assessed the knowledge of stroke risk factors and warning signs and allowed separate gender analysis. We conducted a systematic review of all published studies (to August 2008) examining knowledge of stroke risk factors and warning signs that included women and provided results separated by gender. Two reviewers selected studies for inclusion, assessed quality, and extracted data. The database search identified 2158 references for screening and 158 were selected for possible inclusion. Twenty-two studies were reviewed including 20 cross-sectional and two pretest-posttest design surveys. Overall, better stroke knowledge was observed in women compared with men in the majority of the studies although there is a general lack of knowledge in both genders. Four out of 18 studies reported better risk factor knowledge and eight out of 15 studies reported better knowledge in stroke warning signs in women compared with men. Women tended to know more evidence-based stroke risk factors than men. Stroke knowledge also appeared to be related to country of study origin, age, education, and medical history. Stroke knowledge among different populations and both in men and women is suboptimal. More research is necessary to further investigate gender differences in stroke knowledge with specific focus on how to use these differences to improve public health campaigns.

FAST enough? The UK general public’s understanding of stroke

“…People at highest risk of stroke were those least educated about it and men had lower levels of knowledge than did women. 1,8 Those at highest risk (ie older people and males) and ethnic minorities might have a poorer stroke understanding than the general population, and one study showed that many were unaware of their own higher risk status. A link was also suggested between a lower level of education and worse understanding.…”

“…Two recent international reviews suggested inadequate understanding of the common risk factors and warning signs of stroke. 7,8 Stroke knowledge varies in different countries, which highlights the need for culturally appropriate national stroke campaigns. 8,9 American, Australian and French studies found that knowledge ranged from poor to 'moderate at best' .…”

“…7,8 Stroke knowledge varies in different countries, which highlights the need for culturally appropriate national stroke campaigns. 8,9 American, Australian and French studies found that knowledge ranged from poor to 'moderate at best' . [10][11][12] However, in two UK-based studies, knowledge of stroke was good.…”

Stroke warning signs and awareness of risk factors in high-school teachers

“…Yaşlanan nüfusa bağlı olarak 2030 yılında dünyada önde gelen ölüm nedenlerinden birinin inme olacağı tahmin edilmektedir (6). Türkiye'de toplam ölümler içinde %15 sıklığı ile ikinci sırada yer almaktadır (2,7).…”

“…İnme risk faktörlerinin farkındalığı inmeyi önlemede, inme alarm belirtileri farkındalığı ise acil tedaviye erişimde (4), akut inmede potansiyel tedavi seçeneklerinin arttırılmasında (revaskülarizasyon tedaviler; trombolitik ve mekanik trombektomi) ve inme sonrası daha iyi sonuçlar sağlamasında çok önemlidir (6,20,21,22,23,24,25).…”