Perceptions of stroke in the general public and patients with stroke: a qualitative study

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Abstract
Objectives: To gain insight into people's thoughts on stroke and to inform the development of educational strategies in the community. Design: Focus group discussions: two groups of people who had a stroke and their carers, and two groups of members of the general public. Setting: New South Wales, Australia. Participants: 35 people participated: 11 from the general public, 14 people who had had a stroke, and 10 carers or partners. Main outcome measures: Views on risk factors, symptoms, treatment, information resources, and prevention. Results: All groups reported similar knowledge of risk factors. People generally mentioned stress, diet, high blood pressure, age, and smoking as causes of stroke. Participants in the community group gave little attention to symptoms. Some participants who had had a stroke did not initially identify their experience as stroke because the symptoms were not the same as those they had read about. There were mixed feelings about the extent of involvement in management decisions during hospital admission. Some felt sufficiently involved, some wanted to be more involved, and others felt incapable of being actively involved. Conclusions: Symptoms of stroke are not easy to recognise because they vary so much. Presentation of information about stroke by hospital and community health services should be improved. Simple and understandable educational materials should be developed and their effectiveness monitored. What is already known on this topic Increasing the speed of presentation to hospital after the onset of stroke depends on the level of knowledge of stroke in the general population Among stroke patients and the general public the knowledge of stroke is poor What this study adds Focus group discussion showed that recognition of stroke was not easy for the general public because symptoms present in various ways None of the available written information about stroke successfully conveyed the importance of early presentation to hospital for anyone experiencing warning signs or symptoms