Stroke Awareness of Physicians Working in a Tertiary Healthcare Institution

Aim: To investigate the knowledge and awareness of physicians working in tertiary healthcare institutions concerning stroke and treatment approaches for ischemic stroke. Material and Method: Fifty-nine physicians with a mean age of 35.4 years were included in the study. A survey consisting of 12 questions taking less than 5 minutes to complete was delivered to the specialist and research assistant physicians who were actively employed in Adıyaman University Faculty of Medicine Training and Research Hospital and signed the voluntary informed consent form. Results: Of the physicians participating in the study, 66.1% (n=39) were working as specialists and 33.9% (n=20) as research assistant physicians. More than half the physicians (57.6%, n=34) had not previously attended an informative meeting on stroke. The average rate of correct answers given to all survey questions was 37.8%. The research assistant physicians correctly answered the questions concerning the first intervention in a stroke patient, prevalence of stroke, and thrombolytic treatment agent at a higher rate than the specialist physicians. The physicians who had previously attended an informative meeting on stroke provided more correct answers to the questions on stroke preventability and thrombolytic treatment agent. Conclusion: Undoubtedly, since time is one of the most important factors affecting mortality and morbidity in case of an ischemic stroke, it is vital that both society and healthcare professionals become aware of this health condition. We believe that the awareness of all physicians concerning stroke and its treatment should be increased through effective training and informative meetings