Neurology & Neuroscience

Background: One of the greatest public health challenges is developing mass media health behavior change programs and interventions to improve the health and reduce the burden of chronic disease. As public communication campaigns continue to grow in scope and level of sophistication, the task of evaluating campaigns becomes increasingly complicated. Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death and the leading cause of serious long-term disability in the United States effecting almost four million Americans. Approximately 10-20% of all diagnosed strokes occur in young adults (18-45 years old) each year, therefore making strokes a very susceptible threat to this population. This population is not typically targeted for stroke mass media campaigns, therefore some barriers exist requiring tailored health promotion interventions, whose effectiveness remains uncertain.

 

Objective: This systematic review aimed to identify relevant published evidence, synthesize the main study components and identify evidence of the effectiveness of the interventions for mass media campaigns targeting the awareness of the WarningSigns (WS) and Risk Factors (RF) for stroke in young people. Supplementary factors of message repetition and need to call 9-1-1 at first sign of stroke symptoms will also be examined.

 

Method: Data Sources: PubMed, MEDLINE, and PsycInfo were searched for journal articles on health promotion interventions for increasing stroke awareness of warning signs in young people, published in English between 2005 and 2015.

 

Results: Twenty-six studies investigating mass media stroke campaigns were included, reporting only two studies that targeted young adults, under the age of 45 years old. With a majority of stroke communication studies not employing theories it is difficult to determine the relationship among variables and thus provide an explanation regarding their relationship. Out of the 26 studies reviewed only one study utilized a theory, Social Cognitive Theory (Sullivan, 2009) and no studies used a theory to study stroke in young adults. This study attempted to identify variables, such as perceived susceptibility to stroke and perceived benefit of exercise to reduce stroke risk, in 50 senior citizens after receiving stroke education. The mass media interventions in these studies varied in widely target populations, settings, delivery methods, contents and messaging involved. Twentyfour of the study designs were quantitative, and the emerging evidence of effectiveness was inconclusive. None of the studies included variables or messaging on the severity of having a stroke and the need to call 9-1-1 immediately upon witnessing WS. Additionally, no studies included variables that measured repetition of messaging and the increase of stroke WS and RF.

Conclusions: Further investigation is needed in mass media stroke education targeting young adults. Since no studies targeting young adults have been conducted using a theory, measuring the effects of message repetition, and utilizing