Providing Stroke and Hypertension Education in Amharic for Ethiopian Persons Living in Dallas, Texas, United States

Abstract

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to compare knowledge of a stroke education module provided to bilingual members of the Ethiopian immigrant population in Dallas, Texas, presented in the Amharic language as compared to in English.MethodsA convenience sample of 84 participants were recruited using a snowball technique and randomly assigned to receive education in English or Amharic. The participants completed a pre- and posttest of their knowledge about strokes, a demographic survey, and a satisfaction survey. Data was analyzed using a general linear model and chi-square analysis.ResultsThere were no statistically significant differences between satisfaction scores comparing those educated in Amharic versus English (χ2 = 6.5108, p = .0107). Although mean pretest (10.8) and posttest (16.4) stroke knowledge scores were higher across all groups (p < .001), the mean posttest scores were lower for subjects who watched the Amharic versus the English video (14.9 vs. 18.1, p = .003).ConclusionThis study did not show a statistically significant increase in knowledge about stroke when presented learning materials in subjects' native language compared to in English. The use of video to present stroke and stroke-risk educational content can be used in future research and global health initiatives to increase stroke knowledge in the Amharic-speaking community.