Lack of Association Between Stroke Symptom Knowledge and Intent to Call 911. A Population-Based Survey

Background and Purpose— Excessive prehospital delay between acute stroke onset and hospital arrival is an ongoing problem. Translating knowledge of stroke warning signs into appropriate action is critical to decrease prehospital delay. Our objectives were to estimate the proportion of Michigan adults who would react appropriately by calling 911 when presented with hypothetical stroke-related scenarios and to examine the association between knowledge of warning signs and calling 911. Methods— In 2004, questions regarding initial response to health-related scenarios were added to the Michigan Behavioral Risk Factor Survey, a population-based telephone survey of adults. We calculated the proportion of respondents who would call 911 in response to 3 stroke-related scenarios and examined the association between stroke warning sign knowledge and 911 activation. Results— Among 4841 adults, 27.6% (95% CI, 26.2 to 29.0) had adequate knowledge of stroke warning signs (defined as reporting 3 correct warning signs), ...