The patients awareness and medication adherence among high-risk stroke patients admitted in a tertiary level hospital in Qatar: A cross-sectional study.

Introduction: The burden of stroke is increasing in Qatar, similar to many other countries in the world. The prevalence of stroke risk factors plays an important role in the burden of stroke in Qatar.

Objective: This study aims to assess the stroke knowledge, recognition, prevention, and medication adherence among high-risk patients.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving high-risk patients admitted to the inpatient medical unit through a paper-based survey using four adopted scales Stroke knowledge test, Stroke Recognition Questionnaire, stroke prevention awareness, and Medication Adherence Rating Scale tool. Two hundred ninety-nine completed responses from the participants were used for analysis.

Results: The 41-50-year-old age group was most represented (33.11%) with a median age of 49 years. The male-female ratio was approximately 3:1 and 30.10% of the participants held a graduate degree or higher.The majority of the patients (41.47%) are obese (BMI > 30) and overweight (31.10%). The mean stroke knowledge was 38.01 ± 15.78, while the recognition and prevention domains had mean scores of 67.85 ± 10.85 and 77.55 ± 27.63 respectively. The medication adherence group has a statistically significant association with stroke recognition and prevention domains with a mean score of 72.14 ± 12.34 (p = 0.000) and 88.87 ± 24.75 (p = 0.000) respectively.

Conclusion: Participants' awareness regarding stroke knowledge was low compared to recognition and preventive measures. Stroke awareness positively correlates with medication adherence among high-risk patients admitted to the inpatient unit.