Awareness of stroke in adults and pediatrics among Fayoum University Hospital workers and medical students

Background: Stroke is a devastating public health problem in Egypt and it is considered the third leading cause of death in the developed countries. The hospital workers are an important source of stroke knowledge. Objective: We aim to assess the stroke knowledge among Fayoum University hospital workers and medical students. Methods: A cross sectional hospital based survey was conducted on (202) participants from Fayoum University hospital workers and medical students. They were divided into two groups: health care providers (HCPs) and non-health care providers (NHCPs) who were interviewed using a structured questionnaire on stroke knowledge in both adults and children. Results: The HCPs represented (65.8%) of the study sample, (93.6%) had knowledge about stroke while (30.7%) only knew that stroke might occur in the pediatric age group; (17.3%) knew the possible causes and only (4.5 %) were oriented that the inborn errors of metabolisms might be a cause of stroke in children. The common known important stroke risk factors reported were hypertension (65.8%); followed by obesity (58.9%), stress (55.9%), and smoking (48.5%). The main source of information was through getting contact with someone having stroke in both groups (34.6%, 21.7% respectively). Eighty five percent of HCPs and 40.6% of NHCPs might transfer the patients to the hospital as a first action seeking for proper treatment. Conclusion: A huge gap of knowledge about stroke symptoms was present between the HCPs and NHCPs indicating the urgent need for a community based stroke awareness programs