Awareness of the General Population about the Risk Factors of Cerebrovascular Stroke in Arar, Saudi Arabia

Background: Stroke is the most common life-threatening disease and is the major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Immediate patient transfer to the hospital and risk prevention rely on public awareness of warning signs and risk factors for stroke Objectives: To determine the public awareness regarding the risk factors, warning symptoms, and prompt management of cerebrovascular stroke in Arar, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted in Arar, Northern Saudi Arabia from the period of June 1^st to August 30^th, 2020 among the general population. Data was collected by using an online self-administered pre-designed questionnaire distributed via social media network. Sociodemographic and awareness data was obtained. The collected data was entered and analyzed using the SPSS program, version 23. We used the Chi-square as a test of significance. P-value considered significant if < 0.05. Results: Most (83.9%) of the participants have heard about stroke before, 6.9% had a family history of stroke, 49.2% defined stroke correctly, 66.4% said that stroke could affect any age group, 70.8% defined high blood pressure as a risk factor of stroke, 40.5% had previous stroke, 35.3% had coronary insufficiency, 28.9% had high blood fats, 27.8% were smoking cigarettes, 22.1% had lack of physical activity and 17.1% had diabetes. Symptoms knowledge was reported as 28.2% feeling of general weakness, 53.7% inability to move a limb, 29.7% numbness in one limb, 30.5% headache, 25.9% dizziness, 35.7% difficulty in seeing and 37.9% difficulty in speaking. On the other hand, 93.1% of our studied population would go directly to hospital if someone of their family felt the symptoms of stroke, 0.3% would go to the pharmacy, and 0.6% would wait for symptoms to go away. Regarding participants knowledge about stroke treatment, 79.2% knew there's medicinal treatment for stroke case, 6.4% indicated treatment by improving the diet and 14.2% reported doing sports. Only 37.1% knew that a stroke patient should receive treatment within 4 hours of the onset of symptoms. Conclusion: The general population of Arar, KSA have a reasonable knowledge about stroke. There was a significant relation between correct knowledge about stroke and educational level, working status with non-significant relation with age, gender or marital status.