More Than 85% Of Stroke Patients Unaware Of Symptoms: Survey

Of the surveyed group of 91 patients diagnosed with current and recurrent strokes, it was found that 85.7 per cent of them were unaware of the symptoms, said a release from Amrita Hospital based here.

More than 85 per cent of those who have suffered a stroke, a leading cause of death and functional impairment, are not aware of its symptoms, according to a study.

Of the surveyed group of 91 patients diagnosed with current and recurrent strokes, it was found that 85.7 per cent of them were unaware of the symptoms, said a release from Amrita Hospital based here.

"Kerala being a State with high literacy rate, it is alarming that around 87.5% of the study population is still unaware about stroke symptoms which result in high morbidity and mortality. Even though most of the patients (90 per cent) were taken to the hospital, we found that awareness of stroke symptoms and risk factors was low in both the stroke patients and bystanders," the release quoted Dr Vivek Nambiar, head of division of stroke medicine and neurology at the hospital, as having said.

In India, the prevalence of stroke among the young is higher than among the western population, and despite the implementation of specialised stroke units and thrombolytic therapy, the public remains uninformed about strokes, and only a few patients seek hospital care in terms of arriving at a time to receive treatment," the release said.