Abstract

Background: Stroke is defined as a health problem due to obstruction in blood flow through cerebrovascular vessels resulting in a state of acute shock. Thereby, this study aimed to assess the level of awareness of general public population toward early manifestation of stroke in Saudi Arabia and to explore the relationship between level of awareness and different socio-demographic factors.
Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among the general public population of Saudi Arabia. Pretested questionnaire was used in the data collection. The questionnaire included questions about socio-demographic factors and awareness of stroke.
Results: A total of 740 participants completed the questionnaire. Almost 64.9% were females. It was found that 478 (64.6%) participants had good awareness about early manifestation of stroke. Majority of the participants (93.1%) had already heard about stroke and the main primary source of information was family/friends (29.5%). Furthermore, no statistically significant association between gender, age, nationality, marital status, occupational status, and region of residence was found with the level of awareness regarding stroke. On contrary, a significant difference was observed between level of education and level of awareness about stroke (p = 0.002).
Conclusion: About two thirds of participants had good general awareness about stroke and its risk factors and its early signs, but there were few knowledge gaps regarding specific aspects of stroke, which needs to be fixed.

Key words: Stroke, awareness, cerebrovascular disease, Saudi Arabia