Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of patients with hyperlipidemia towards stroke: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: With the rising incidence and mortality rates of stroke, understanding the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of patients with hyperlipidemia towards stroke is crucial for improving their health management and preventing stroke. This study aimed to investigate the KAP of patients with hyperlipidemia towards stroke.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the First Hospital of Hebei Medical University between November 2, 2023, and December 31, 2023. Demographic information and KAP scores of the participants were collected via questionnaire administration.

Results: In this study, a total of 385 patients diagnosed with hyperlipidemia were included. Among them, 211 (54.8%) were male, and 214 (55.6%) had been dealing with hyperlipidemia for less than one year. Multivariate analyses showed that age greater than or equal to 55 years (OR = 4.016, 95% CI: [2.128,7.579], p < .001) and attitude score greater than or equal to 21 (OR = 5.673, 95% CI: [3.432,9.376], p < .001) were independently associated with proactive practice. Mediation analysis showed that knowledge directly affected the attitude (β = 0.637, p = .010) and attitude directly affected the practice (β = 0.721, p = .010). Meanwhile, the direct effect of knowledge on practice was not significant (β = -0.059, p = .438), however, knowledge was found to indirectly affected practice through attitude (β = 0.459, p = .010).

Conclusion: Our study reveals that patients with hyperlipidemia exhibit a concerning gap in their understanding of stroke, despite holding positive attitudes and displaying suboptimal preventive practices.