INTRODUCTION: Stroke is the second most leading cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries like India.
Inability to recognize warning signs of stroke and delay in seeking medical attention for recognized symptoms contribute
to significant delay in treatment. Therefore, it is necessary to assess the awareness level about risk factors, signs and
symptoms and complications of stroke.
OBJECTIVE: To assess the level of awareness about stroke among hypertensive patients and to create awareness among
them.
METHOD: A cross sectional study was conducted at a Tertiary Hospital in Chennai (Govt. Stanley Medical College and
Hospital). 420 hypertensive patients were included in the study during the period between June 2018- November 2018.
After obtaining informed consent from the patients, details were collected by face-to face interview using questionnaire
designed for the study.
RESULT: A total of 420 response were collected in which male and female participants between the age of 40 to 60 years,
were nearly equal. most of the participants belong to upper lower class. 59% have heard about stroke and 13.1% had
experienced stroke previously and relatively high percent of them knew from someone who suffered from stroke.
The most commonly recognised risk factor of stroke were hypertension (56.7%) followed by smoking(28.8%).Difficulty
in speaking was the most identified symptom of stroke by a 57.1% of population; Weakness of one side of the body by
48.3% followed by other symptoms. Paralysis of one side of the body (47.1%), seizures (41.1%) were the most recognised
complications of stroke.
CONCLUSION: This study concludes that there is inadequate knowledge about stroke among the study participants which
can be further improvised by some health education programmes.