Effect of a comprehensive health education program on pre-hospital delay intentions in high-risk stroke population and caregivers.

OBJECTIVE: Many factors influence pre-hospital delays in the event of stroke. This study aimed to develop and evaluate a comprehensive educational program for decreasing pre-hospital delays in high-risk stroke population.

METHODS: We enrolled 220 high-risk stroke population and caregivers from six urban communities in Harbin from May 2013 to May 2015, and randomly divided them into intervention and control groups. We implemented a comprehensive educational program (intervention group), comprising public lectures, instructional brochures, case videos, simulations, and role-playing from May 2013 to May 2015. We delivered conventional oral education in the control group. We compared stroke pre-hospital delay behavioral intention (SPDBI), pre-hospital stroke symptom coping test (PSSCT), and stroke pre-symptoms alert test (SPSAT) results between the groups before and 6, 12, and 18 months after health intervention.

RESULTS: There were significant differences between before and after intervention (P < 0.01). SPDBI, PSSCT, and SPSAT scores were significantly different between the groups (P < 0.01). The interaction between time and intervention method was significant (P < 0.01). According to multivariate repeated measures analysis of variance, SPDBI, PSSCT, and SPSAT scores were significantly different at each time after intervention (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: The comprehensive educational program was significantly effective in decreasing SPDBI, improving knowledge, enhancing stroke pre-symptoms alert, and reducing the possibility of pre-hospital delays.