Knowledge, attitude, and practice of stroke and its risk factors and warning symptoms in Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Stroke is a leading global health issue, accounting for 12% of global deaths, with low- and middle-income countries experiencing the greatest burden. In our country, stroke accounts for 6.23% of deaths, with an age-adjusted death rate of 89.82 per 100,000 people. Lack of awareness of the symptoms and risk factors, and delayed response towards stroke warning symptoms can cause delay in treatment resulting permanent brain damage or death. AIM: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice towards stroke, risk factors and warning symptoms among residents of Jimma, Ethiopia, 2025. METHODOLOGY: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April to June 2025. A systematic random sampling method was used to select participants from selected kebeles of the town. Oromifa (Afan-oromo), Amharic, and English version questionnaires were used to gather the information; the data was exported to the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0 software for descriptive and chi-square test analysis. RESULT: Majority of the participants aged 31-50 years 263(62.3%). Only 14 (3.3%) of participants had experienced a stroke. For just 41.9% of participants, the KAP was adequate, while for 58.1% of people, it was insufficient. Age (30-50), higher education, being an employee, personal or family history of stroke, and regular health checkups were significantly associated with better KAP. CONCLUSION: The study on knowledge, attitude, and practice towards stroke risk factors and warning symptoms in Ethiopia, highlight a significant gap in stroke awareness, attitude and response in populations with most respondents exhibiting insufficient KAP towards stroke.