Determinants Influencing the Prestroke Health Behaviors and Cardiovascular Disease Risk of Stroke Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background Knowledge about stroke and stroke prevention may provide motivation to lead a healthy lifestyle to prevent stroke. The goal of this study is to quantify the knowledge of stroke and stroke prevention of patients with a recent stroke and its association with health behaviors and cardiovascular disease risk. Methods We conducted a prospective cross-sectional study utilizing consecutive stroke admissions at 2 hospitals in Vancouver, Canada. We included patients within 48-72 hours of admission. Stroke knowledge was measured prior to any hospital education. The Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP II), a 52-item self-report scale was used to quantify health behavior for the week prior to the stroke. The cardiovascular risk score was calculated. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to assess the determinants of HPLP II and cardiovascular disease risk. Results We enrolled patients with primarily mild stroke (n = 100). The mean age of participants was 66.6 ± 13.6 years and 60% were male. The participants had poor knowledge of stroke symptoms and risk factors. In the first regression analysis, the final model explained 27% of the variance in health behavior (F (6, 93) = 5.69, p = <0.001) with only age and knowledge of risk factors as statistically significant variables. In the second regression analysis, the final model explained 15% of the variance in cardiovascular disease risk (F (7, 84) = 2.163, p = 0.046) with only physical activity remaining as a statistically significant variable. Conclusion The findings would inform the development of novel programs to improve the knowledge and health behavior for prevention of stroke.