Awareness of Stroke among General Population Residing in Urban Area of Western Maharashtra: An Observational Study

Background: Stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide and was responsible for an estimated 6.5 million deaths and 113 million DALYs (Disability Adjusted Life Years) in 2013. Developing countries like India is facing a double burden of communicable and non- communicable diseases. Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability in India. Objectives: 1.To study awareness of warning symptoms, risk factors and treatment of stroke in study population. 2. To study the correlation between socio-demographic factors with awareness of stroke. Methodology: A Cross -sectional Observational study was conducted in the Urban Field Practice Are of Medical College in Western Maharashtra. The study was conducted in the age group of more than 30 years of the participants in the urban area. Sample size was 380 and two stage sampling was used for the data collection. The data collection was done with pretested semi -structured questionnaire by interview method. Written informed consent was obtained before inclusion in the study. Results: A total of 380 participants were included in the study. In the study, 182 (47.89%) were females and 198 (52.10%) were males. It was found that 194 (51.05%) participants were aware about what is stroke. 56% of participants told that brain is the affected organ in stroke. Hypertension (78%) is the most important risk factor for stroke. Conclusion: In the present study it was revealed that the participants had inadequate awareness about stroke, affected organ, symptoms of stroke, and risk factors for stroke