Risk Factors of Stroke among Young Adults in KSA | ||||
The Egyptian Journal of Hospital Medicine | ||||
Article 11, Volume 70, Issue 10, January 2018, Page 1773-1777 PDF (297.09 K) | ||||
Document Type: Original Article | ||||
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Authors | ||||
Wejdan Nasser Al Maqbul* 1; Amina Abdo Salhi1; Sarah Naif Aldewish2; Sarrah Awad Alshammari3; Maram Mohammed Al Yami1; Ahmed Maashi Alanazi2 | ||||
1Najran University | ||||
2Faculty of Medicine, Almaarefa College | ||||
3Faculty of Medicine, University of Halal, Saudi Arabia | ||||
Abstract | ||||
Background: Current literature suggests that hospitalization rates kept increasing with time because stroke risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity have been increasing in the general population. Moreover, stroke is particularly devastating among young people because of its disabling effects, which can last a lifetime. Stroke in young adults is often missed by less experienced clinicians due to its unexpectedness, leading to lost opportunities for intervention. Aim of the study: was to assess the awareness of young adults in KSA of the risk factors, signs and symptoms of stroke. Methods:The present cross-sectional study enrolled 150 Saudi males and females who were randomly selected during the period from October2017 to December 2017.. A self-report questionnaire was used to evaluate STROKE awareness among participants while Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) method was used for data analysis. Results: Our study revealed that the majority of participants were able to relate stroke to the correct underlying risk factors particularly obesity and smoking which score 85.3% and 84.0% respectively. Likewise, 75% agreed that fatty food is a contributing risk factor for stroke while only 61% thought that diabetic patients are at a higher chance for developing stroke. As for the signs of cerebral stroke, the majority of participants had basic knowledge on the signs and symptoms of stroke such as hypertension (83%), face drop , difficulty speech and arm Weakness(76%).In the meantime, Overall , an average of 13% of participants declared no knowledge across all questions. Conclusions: Our study revealed improved yet still insufficient knowledge of brain stroke among the study group of young Saudi females and males adults regardless to the age group since the majority of participants were able to correlate stroke with the key predisposing risk factors as well as the signs of stroke. This indicates that proper intervention was in place to spread the awareness of this crucial medical emergency. However, this effort needs to continue to further improve knowledge about stroke, risk reduction, and appropriate stroke response and prevention. Nevertheless, further studies should be conducted on a larger scale to make a definite conclusion on the regression of stroke awareness in young adults population in Saudi Arabia. | ||||
Keywords | ||||
stroke; Intravenous thrombolysis; Hypertension; Ischemic stroke; Awareness; Saudi Arabia | ||||
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