Broader awareness of stroke symptoms needed for young adult population
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A large proportion of young adults in the United States may not be aware of stroke symptoms, according to study results published in Stroke.
“While previous studies have examined the prevalence of and disparities in public recognition and awareness of common stroke symptoms, fewer have assessed similar trends among young adults as a subgroup with an increasing risk of stroke and associated hospitalizations in the general population,” Reed Mszar, MPH, postgraduate research associate at the Yale/New Haven Hospital Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, told Healio. “With the growing risk of stroke among younger adults in the United States, we strived to add to the existing literature by investigating the role that social determinants of health play in predicting symptom awareness.”
Using cross-sectional data, 24,769 individuals (mean age, 51 years; 52% women, 70% non-Hispanic white) completed a survey on stroke symptom awareness and response to perceived stroke. Researchers further assessed cumulative disparities in symptom awareness among diverse and high-risk subgroups (n = 9,844 young adults: mean age, 31 years; 51% women; 62% non-Hispanic white) through statistical analysis.
Of the young adult study population, 28.9% of young adults were not aware of all five stroke symptoms while 2.7% of young adults were not aware of any stroke symptoms. Further analysis showed Hispanic ethnicity (OR = 1.96; 95% CI, 1.17-3.28), non-U.S. born immigration status (OR = 2.02; 95% CI, 1.31-3.11) and lower education level (OR = 2.77; 95% CI, 1.76-4.35) were significantly associated with lack of stroke symptom awareness.
“While future studies are needed to understand the factors leading to lower levels of stroke symptom awareness in certain subgroups, previous reports have indicated that limited-English proficiency and lower relative health literacy represent potential explanations. In terms of young adults specifically, lower levels of symptom awareness may be attributed to the lower frequency of strokes when compared with older adults as well as a more heterogenous range of potential causes and less typical clinical presentations in younger adults,” Mszar said in an interview. “We believe that our study reaffirms the importance and urgency of addressing contemporary health inequities head-on through tailored and multidisciplinary public health approaches.”
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