Poor stroke risk perception despite moderate public stroke awareness: insight from a cross-sectional national survey in Greece.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Although stroke is the fourth cause of death in Western societies, public stroke awareness remains suboptimal. The aim of this study was to estimate stroke risk perception and stroke awareness in Greece through a cross-sectional telephone survey. METHODS: A trained interview team conducted this cross-sectional telephone survey between February and April 2014 using an online structured questionnaire. Participants were selected using random digit dialing of landline and mobile telephone numbers with quota sampling weighted for geographical region based on the most recent General Population Census (2011). RESULTS: Between February and April 2014, 723 individuals (418 women [58%], 47.4 ± 17.8 years) agreed to respond. Among all respondents, 642 (88.8%) were able to provide at least 1 stroke risk factor; 673 respondents (93.08%) were able to provide correctly at least 1 stroke symptom or sign. When asked what would they do in case of acute onset of stroke symptoms, 497 (68.7%) responded that they would either call the ambulance or visit the closest emergency department. Only 35.3%, 18.9%, 17.2%, 20.7%, and 15.0% of respondents with atrial fibrillation, arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, and current smoking, respectively, considered themselves as being in high risk for stroke. CONCLUSIONS: Stroke risk perception in Greece is low despite moderate public stroke awareness.