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| LETTER TO EDITOR |
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| Year : 2006 | Volume
: 54
| Issue : 4 | Page : 444-445 |
Authors' reply
JD Pandian1, G Kalra2, A Jaison2, SS Deepak2, S Shamsher2, YP Singh2, G Abraham3
1 Stroke Unit, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Brisbane, Australia
2 Department of Neurology, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, Punjab, India
3 Saint Vincent Hospital at Worcester Medical Centre, Worcester, MA, USA
Correspondence Address:
J D Pandian
Stroke Unit, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Brisbane
Australia
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
How to cite this article:
Pandian J D, Kalra G, Jaison A, Deepak S S, Shamsher S, Singh Y P, Abraham G. Authors' reply. Neurol India 2006;54:444-5 |
Sir,
We appreciate the comments received for our recently published original article in Neurology India.[1]
We certainly agree with the two issues that were highlighted i.e., knowledge of stroke symptoms and identifying them during the onset of stroke. Good knowledge of stroke symptoms is not sufficient to enable self-diagnosis of stroke by patients.[2]
We had 29 (20%) patients with a previous history of stroke (n=26, 18%) or transient ischemic attack (TIA) (n=3, 2%). Twenty-five (86%) subjects in this group knew at least one warning symptom of stroke ( P =0.01). However, the knowledge regarding organ affected in stroke and risk factors for stroke did not differ between the subjects with and without previous history of stroke or TIA. Fourteen (48%) out of 29 patients in this particular group recognized the stroke symptoms ( P =0.004). Only 13 (45%, P =0.38) patients reached the hospital directly. Better knowledge and self-recognition of stroke symptoms in this subgroup did not lead to an appropriate response to the symptoms.
There were 40 (27%) subjects who recognized the stroke symptoms at the onset. However, only 13 (33%) of them reached the hospital early i.e., within six hours. Self-recognition of stroke symptoms is not sufficient to result in rapid medical access.[2] Stroke symptoms are heterogeneous unlike myocardial infarction. Educational programs about stroke should stress the importance of all individual stroke symptoms and also reinforce the need for early admission to a hospital with acute stroke services.
| » References | |  |
| 1. | Pandian JD, Kalra G, Jaison A, Deepak SS, Shamsher S, Singh Y, et al . Knowledge of stroke among stroke patients and their relatives in Northwest India. Neurol India 2006;54:152-6.  |
| 2. | Caroll C, Hobart J, Fox C, Teare L, Gibson J. Stroke in Devon: Knowledge was good, but action was poor. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:567-71. |
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