Study assesses public awareness of stroke signs

A STUDY to assess public awareness of the warning signs of stroke is being launched by a team of nurse researchers from University College Cork (UCC) to tie in with the biggest national media campaign the Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) has ever run.

The study will effectively assess the impact of FAST, the IHF’s nationwide stroke awareness campaign which kicks off this month.

FAST stands for Face, Arms, Speech and Time and refers to the main symptoms of stroke people should look for, including whether the face of the possible victim has fallen to one side; whether they can raise both arms and keep them there and whether their speech is slurred. The time element of the campaign slogan refers to the need to immediately contact emergency services if you suspect someone has suffered a stroke.

The nurses involved in the Stroke of Success study will present volunteers over the next few days with a questionnaire prior to the launch of the FAST campaign to assess existing knowledge of stroke.

Nurses are currently visiting a variety of local amenities in urban, suburban and rural areas of Cork city and county, asking people to complete the survey. Once the IHF’s campaign has been running for at least four months, the nurses will again contact those who filled out the questionnaire to determine if their level of awareness of the symptoms of stroke has improved.

Irene Hartigan, one of the nurse researchers from UCC’s School of Nursing and Midwifery, said many people do not know the warning signs of stroke.

“Like a heart attack, early treatment of stroke in hospital can help reduce disability. Stroke is the leading cause of disability and the recent National Audit on Stroke Care (2008) revealed huge shortcomings in stroke services in Ireland,” Ms Hartigan said.

Fellow nurses Liz O’Connell, Brid Kilonzo, Sinead O’Brien and Ailish Ryan are currently collecting data for their Stroke of Success survey.

Participants will be asked to complete a short survey of ten questions on the warning signs of stroke.

* For more information about this survey log onto http://www.ucc.ie/en/nursingmidwifery/NewsEvents/ and click ‘Stroke of Success’.

* To take part in the survey, log on to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/stroke-of-success.