Awareness of Stroke Signs and Symptoms and Calling 9-1-1 Among US Adults: National Health Interview Survey, 2009 and 2014

Awareness of Stroke Signs and Symptoms and Calling 9-1-1 Among US Adults: National Health Interview Survey, 2009 and 2014

ORIGINAL RESEARCH — Volume 16 — June 20, 2019

Ashruta Patel, DO, MS1; Jing Fang, MD, MS1; Cathleen Gillespie, MS1; Erika Odom, PhD1; Sallyann Coleman King, MD, MSc1; Cecily Luncheon, MD, MPH, DrPH1,2; Carma Ayala, RN, MPH, PhD1 (View author affiliations)

Suggested citation for this article: Patel A, Fang J, Gillespie C, Odom E, King SC, Luncheon C, et al. Awareness of Stroke Signs and Symptoms and Calling 9-1-1 Among US Adults: National Health Interview Survey, 2009 and 2014. Prev Chronic Dis 2019;16:180564. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd16.180564external icon.

PEER REVIEWED

On This Page

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Acknowledgments
• Author Information
• References
• Tables

Summary

What is already known on this topic?

Early recognition of stroke symptoms and the importance of calling 9-1-1 improves cardiovascular outcomes. In 2014, US age-adjusted awareness rate of stroke symptoms and knowing to call 911 was 66% and was higher among females, whites, and individuals with health insurance.

What is added by this report?

Awareness of all stroke symptoms and knowledge of calling 9-1-1 among US adults increased by 14.7 percentage points from 2009 to 2014, and the increase was observed in almost all subgroups.

What are the implications for public health practice?

In the United States, the awareness of stroke improved over the past several years. Educational activities to sustain the high levels of awareness of stroke should be continued.

Abstract

Introduction

Early recognition of stroke symptoms and recognizing the importance of calling 9-1-1 improves the timeliness of appropriate emergency care, resulting in improved health outcomes. The objective of this study was to assess changes in awareness of stroke symptoms and calling 9-1-1 from 2009 to 2014.

Methods

We analyzed data among 27,211 adults from 2009 and 35,862 adults from 2014 using the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The NHIS included 5 questions in both 2009 and 2014 about stroke signs and symptoms and one about the first action to take when someone is having a stroke. We estimated the prevalence of awareness of each symptom, all 5 symptoms, the importance of calling 9-1-1, and knowledge of all 5 symptoms plus the importance of calling 9-1-1 (indicating recommended stroke knowledge). We assessed changes from 2009 to 2014 in the prevalence of awareness. Data analyses were conducted in 2016.

Results

In 2014, awareness of stroke symptoms ranged from 76.1% (sudden severe headache) to 93.7% (numbness of face, arm, leg, side); 68.3% of respondents recognized all 5 symptoms, and 66.2% were aware of all recommended stroke knowledge. After adjusting for sex, age, educational attainment, and race/ethnicity, logistic regression results showed a significant absolute increase of 14.7 percentage points in recommended stroke knowledge from 2009 (51.5%) to 2014 (66.2%). Among US adults, recommended stroke knowledge increased from 2009 to 2014.

Conclusion

Stroke awareness among US adults has improved but remains suboptimal.