Search

Introduction Early recognition of stroke symptoms and recognizing the importance of calling 9-1-1 improves the timeliness of appropriate emergency care, resulting in improved health outcomes. The objective of this study was to assess changes in awareness of stroke symptoms and calling 9-1-1 from 2009 to 2014. Methods We analyzed data among 27,211 adults from 2009 and 35,862 adults from 2014 using the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The NHIS included 5 questions in both 2009 and 2014 about stroke signs and symptoms and one about the first action to take when someone is having a stroke. We estimated the prevalence of awareness of each symptom, all 5 symptoms, the importance of calling 9-1-1, and knowledge of all 5 symptoms plus the importance of calling 9-1-1 (indicating recommended stroke knowledge). We assessed changes from 2009 to 2014 in the prevalence of awareness. Data analyses were conducted in 2016. Results In 2014, awareness of stroke symptoms ranged from 76.1% (sudden severe headache) to 93.7% (numbness of face, arm, leg, side); 68.3% of respondents recognized all 5 symptoms, and 66.2% were aware of all recommended stroke knowledge. After adjusting for sex, age, educational attainment, and race/ethnicity, logistic regression results showed a significant absolute increase of 14.7 percentage points in recommended stroke knowledge from 2009 (51.5%) to 2014 (66.2%). Among US adults, recommended stroke knowledge increased from 2009 to 2014. Conclusion Stroke awareness among US adults has improved but remains suboptimal.

Introduction Among veterans, having been selected into the military and having easy access to medical care during and after military service may reduce premature mortality but not morbidity from mental distress and may not improve health-related quality of life. The objective of this study was to determine whether veterans in different racial/ethnic groups differ in their health-related quality of life from each other and from their civilian counterparts. Methods Among 800,000 respondents to the 2007–2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System surveys, approximately 110,000 identified themselves as veterans and answered questions about their sociodemographic characteristics, self-rated health, and recent health-related quality of life. Nonoverlapping 95% confidence intervals of means distinguished veterans and civilians of different racial/ethnic groups. Results Veteran and civilian American Indians/Alaska Natives reported more physically unhealthy days, mentally unhealthy days, and recent activity limitation days than their veteran and civilian counterparts in other racial/ethnic groups. Non-Hispanic white veterans and Hispanic veterans reported more physically unhealthy days, mentally unhealthy days, and recent activity limitation days than their civilian counterparts. Conclusion Unlike findings in other studies, our findings show that veterans’ health-related quality of life differs from that of civilians both within the same racial/ethnic group and among different racial/ethnic groups. Because once-healthy soldiers may not be as healthy when they return to civilian life, assessing their health-related quality of life over time may identify those who need help to regain their health.