SANP Swiss Archives of Neurology, Psychiatry and Psychotherapy 2297-7007 2297-6981 EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag AG Farnsburgerstrasse 8 CH-4132 Muttenz 03280 10.4414/sanp.2022.03280 Original article Vascular disorders Knowledge of stroke risk factors and warning signs among TIA/stroke survivors in a local Swiss population Correia Pamela pamela983in@yahoo.co.in Senior Resident in Neurology | Neurology, Stroke Unit | Vogelsang 84 | Bienne | 2501 | SWITZERLAND Aicua Rapun Dr Irene irene.aicuarapun@szb-chb.ch Spitalzentrum Biel AG | SWITZERLAND Stephan Dr Salmen stephan.salmen@szb-chb.ch Spitalzentrum Biel AG | SWITZERLAND Alexis Meyer Dr Ivo meyer.ivo@gmail.com Spitalzentrum Biel AG, Lausanne University Hospital | SWITZERLAND 01 09 2022 173 05 0 0 Copyright: EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag AG 2022 EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag AG "Swiss Archives of Neurology, Psychiatry and Psychotherapy" is an open access publication of EMH published in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons licence attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivatives 4.0 International. You are free to share, copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format under the following terms: Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material. "Non-commercial" means not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation. The incorporation of publications in commercial products, the use of publications to advertise for commercial products or services and any other usage that directly or indirectly pursues commercial interests is subject to the express previous consent of the publishing house as part of a written agreement. Please send us your request in writing. Exact indication of the publication from which you would like to reproduce material and detailed information about its intended use help to facilitate and expedite request processing.

Aims  To ascertain the degree of awareness of stroke risk factors, response in case of symptoms as well as the knowledge of stroke treatments in TIA/stroke survivors in a local bilingual setting.  Methods A cross-sectional survey questionnaire-based study using a validated stroke awareness questionnaire. Enrolment was done over six months including patients who had suffered a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or a stroke. Results Sixty-nine patients were included, of whom 35% (n=24) correctly defined a TIA and only 29% (n=20) considered a TIA to be equally serious as a stroke. There was a statistically significant positive relationship (p=0.006, 95% CI: 0.1-0.53, r =0.3) between interpretation of stroke and TIA as a serious event. 56.5% (n=39) of patients were able to correctly identify a minimum of 3 stroke symptoms and 47.8% (n=32) patients responded that they would call an ambulance immediately at symptom onset. The decision to call an ambulance was significantly associated with a good knowledge of stroke risk factors (p=0.03, 95% CI: 1.09-9.92) and stroke therapies (p=0.05, 95% CI: 0.99 -7.36). 37% (n=26) of patients were able to cite 3 or more acute stroke therapies or secondary treatment medications and only 8.7% (n=6) were able to name thrombolysis as being one of these therapies. Conclusions Even in a population of TIA/stroke survivors, the overall knowledge of stroke risk factors and treatments significantly influences the immediate response to stroke symptoms. Patients who recognise a stroke as a serious medical emergency are more likely to consider a TIA to be the same. Knowledge of acute stroke treatments should be emphasised in future public health programs.