Stroke Perception and Response amongst Elderly Persons in Benin, City, Nigeria

Theories on health behaviour have recognized perceived risk as an essential factor in the adoption of a healthy lifestyle, however, little is known about stroke risk perception and response to stroke in the elderly population of Nigeria. Ageing being the most important unmodifiable risk factor for stroke, this study aims to determine the predictors of perception of stroke risk and response to stroke in the elderly This was a cross-sectional study, which involved a multi-stage random sampling, recruiting one hundred and sixty individuals 65years and older. The interview was by face to face using a questionnaire to determine, demographics, knowledge of stroke risk, perception of stroke risk and response in the event of a stroke. Multiple logistic regression models were used to analyze predictors of dependent variables Only 32.5% of participants had an accurate perception of stroke risk while 30.6% would consider taking a patient to hospital in the event of a stroke. Increasing age (P=0.001), the female gender (P<0.05), having two or more risk factors for stroke (P=0.001) and attending two or more specialized clinics (P=0.001) were significant predictors of the wrong perception of stroke risk and inappropriate response in the event of a stroke. The elderly are at risk for stroke, but sadly with increasing age and additional risk factors for stroke, the majority have a wrong perception of stroke risk and would respond inappropriately in the event of a stroke. It might be necessary to run stroke campaigns that are targeted and appropriate to the elderly, involving continuous intermittent repetitions.