Browsing by Author "Bashir, Abdiweli M."

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    Awareness of Stroke Risk Factors and Warning Signs among Hypertensive Patients Attending Garrissa County Refferral Hospital in Garrissa County, Kenya.
    (Kenyatta University, 2025-02) Bashir, Abdiweli M.
    Stroke is a major global health challenge that substantially impacts individuals, families, and societies. Several risk factors contribute to the development of stroke, the majority modifiable while some are non-modifiable. Despite the high prevalence of stroke risk factors among the people of Garissa County, there are no published studies evaluating the level of awareness of hypertension on risk factors and early warning signs among hypertensive patients in Garissa. Garissa County, in the former Northeastern Province of Kenya, has overall low literacy levels, which could potentially impact patients' awareness of stroke risk factors and warning signs. Therefore, the study's objective was to determine the level of awareness of stroke risk factors and warning signs among hypertensive patients in Garissa County and the factors influencing their level of awareness. It was conducted in the medical outpatient clinic of Garissa County Referral Hospital. The study population was hypertensive patients older than 18 years. A structured questionnaire and key informant interview tool were used for quantitative and qualitative data collection. Data was analyzed in SPSS version 25. Categorical data was summarized as absolute frequencies and proportions, while continuous variables were presented as measures of central tendency. A multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the association between patients' characteristics and their level of awareness. A P-value of < 0.05 was considered significant. There were 143 respondents with a mean age of 57 years, very low literacy (18%), and a low employment rate (34%). 39% (56) of the hypertensive patients also had one or more comorbidities, mostly diabetes, kidney failure and heart failure. The hypertension control rate was also suboptimal (26%). Hypertensive patients in Garissa have very low awareness levels of both stroke risk factors and warning signs at 15% and 38%, respectively. On multivariable logistic regression analysis, level of education (aOR: 7.474, CI: 1.343-41.598, p=0.022), family history of stroke (aOR: 5.552, CI: 1.200-25.682, p=0.028), and comorbidity (aOR: 0.135, CI: 0.038-0.481, p=0.002) were significant predictors of level awareness. This study recommends that the Garissa County Public Health Department develop a health education and promotion strategy to enhance stroke awareness, reduce risk factors, and improve cardiovascular health outcomes.