Minorities, the less educated and the young and old recognized fewer stroke
symptoms than those who were white, middle-aged and highly educated. Current
smokers were also less likely than nonsmokers to recognize stroke symptoms,
according to Kurt J. Greenlund, Ph.D., and colleagues from the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
Prompt treatment can improve the odds of surviving a stroke, but the majority
of stroke patients do not receive treatment in the critical three hours
after symptoms first appear, the researchers say.
“Because stroke outcomes can be improved by timely care, it is important
for the public as well as healthcare providers to recognize the major symptoms
of stroke in order to initiate prompt action,” Greenlund says.
The telephone survey of 61,019 adults asked them to identify whether the
following symptoms were a sign of stroke: sudden confusion or trouble speaking,
numbness or weakness in the face, arm or leg, trouble seeing in one or
both eyes, sudden trouble walking, dizziness or loss of balance and severe
headache with no known cause.
The researchers also asked the adults whether they thought sudden chest
pain, a false symptom, was a sign of stroke and what they would do first
if they thought someone near them was having a stroke.
Most participants recognized confusion, numbness and dizziness as signs
of stroke, but fewer people identified trouble seeing and severe, unexplained
headaches as symptoms. Eighty-six percent said that they would call 911
first in case of a stroke.
More than a third of the adults incorrectly thought that sudden chest
pain was stroke-related, but only 2 percent did not recognize any of the
correct symptoms, the researchers found.
