Stroke Awareness Rises, but Understanding of Risk Factors Declines

Comparison Study on Public Awareness of Stroke in Korea by Seoul National University Hospital

While public awareness of stroke symptoms has improved, in-depth understanding of risk factors and related issues appears to have declined.

Seoul National University Hospital

A research team led by Professor Jung Geunhwa and Public Clinical Professor Lee Eungjun from the Department of Neurology at Seoul National University Hospital announced on May 16 the results of a survey on stroke awareness, conducted by Korea Gallup among 1,000 adults in 2009 and 1,012 adults in 2023. This study was supported by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's National Institute of Health, the Korean Stroke Society, and the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, and was published in the latest issue of the American Heart Association journal.

Stroke is a disease in which an acute brain injury occurs due to blockage or rupture of a cerebral blood vessel. According to the survey, the percentage of respondents who knew at least one warning sign of stroke?such as partial paralysis, speech impairment, decreased consciousness, or dizziness?increased from 61.5% in 2009 to 77.4% in 2023.

The proportion of respondents who could identify at least one stroke risk factor?such as hypertension, excessive drinking, smoking, hyperlipidemia, obesity, diabetes, or family history?increased from 56.1% in 2009 to 62.8% in 2023.

However, the percentage of respondents who correctly identified two or more risk factors decreased from 51.4% in 2009 to 40.2% in 2023, a drop of more than 10 percentage points.

Awareness of intravenous thrombolysis, a treatment for stroke, rose from 30.4% to 55.6% over the same period. The proportion of people who chose calling 119 as the appropriate response to stroke symptoms also increased from 32.5% to 48.9%.

The proportion of people obtaining health information from TV decreased from 59.1% to 48.5%, while those obtaining information from the internet (27.8% to 63.0%) and YouTube (0% to 19.9%) increased significantly.

Professor Jung Geunhwa stated, "Overall awareness of stroke has improved, but the depth of information has decreased." He added, "In particular, there is a strong tendency among younger people and those without existing vascular risk factors to perceive stroke as something unrelated to themselves."

He further emphasized, "It is urgent to develop differentiated educational strategies and reliable digital-based educational content according to age, health behaviors, and the presence or absence of underlying diseases."