London, United Kingdom 2013 Cerebrovasc Dis 2013; 35 (suppl 3)1-854 49 TABLE 1: Baseline Characteristics N= % Sex: Male 473 47 Female 527 53 Age (years): 15-24 190 19 25-34 222 22 35-44 166 17 45-54 145 15 55-64 123 12 >65 130 13 Socio-economic group: ABC1 516 52 C2DE 484 48 Previous exposure to Stroke 222 22 14:30-16:00 Oral Session Room 9,10 Etiology of stroke and risk factors A Chairs: V. Caso, Italy and T. Tatlisumak, Finland 1 Etiology of stroke and risk factors A 14:30 - 14:40 Irish Public Awareness of Atrial Fibrillation – Still Poor In 2012. B.B. Drumm1, M. Walsh2, T. Laher3, T. Coughlan4, D. O’Neill5, D.R. Collins6 AMNCH Tallaght, Dublin, IRELAND1,IPSOS/MRBI, Dublin, IRELAND2, IPSOS/MRBI, Dublin, IRELAND3, AMNCH Tallaght, Dublin, IRELAND4, AMNCH Tallaght, Dublin, IRE-LAND5, AMNCH Tallaght, Dublin, IRELAND6 Background: Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is the commonest cardiac arrhythmia affecting 5% of the population over 70 years and its prevalence increasing. AF is present in 31% of strokes. Strokes due to AF are more severe, disabling and recurrent compared to those due to other causes. We assessed awareness of AF and its perceived importance as a risk factor for stroke in an Irish population. Methods: Professional survey conducted by IPSOS/MRBI, among a quota controlled sample of 1,000 adults aged over 15 years, representative of the Dublin Mid Leinster Stroke Network (popula-tion 760,000). Personal in-home interviewing took place June 2012. Results: 473 men and 527 women were surveyed (controlled for age, sex and socio-economic status- see table 1). 22% of participants had personal experience of stroke as a patient or close relative of a patient. 30% had heard of AF (29% M, 31% F). Among over 65s, 44% had heard of AF compared to 31% aged 25-64 (p=0.003). Upper social classes (ABC1) were more likely to have heard of AF than lower socio-economic groups (C2DE) 36% vs. 24% (p<0.001). Only 50% of those who had previously suffered a stroke themselves had heard of AF. 58% of those aware of AF defined it as an irregular heartbeat with no significant difference between the age groups, genders or so-cial classes. Of the 300 participants who had heard of AF only 28% knew that it was a risk factor for stroke. There was no significant difference between the age groups with 32% of those over 65 and 27% of those under 65 recognising it as a risk factor for stroke (p=0.8) Conclusion: Almost half of Irish adults over 65 had heard of atrial fibrillation, but less that one third of them were aware that it is a risk factor for stroke. Even in stroke survivors awareness of AF is alarm-ingly poor.
Karger_ESC London_2013
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