Dados do Trabalho

Título

Different names for stroke in Brazil's Northeast

Resumo

Introduction: There are different names for stroke in Brazil, but it is not clear if those names mean the same idea of disease.
Objectives: To assess the different words for stroke in Brazil and both intended response to it and symptoms associated.
Methods: Cross-sectional study enrolling healthy individuals from urban areas in twelve cities in all nine states of Northeast Brazil for an open-ended survey. We presented a typical clinical case of a stroke (an elderly who had sudden onset of hemiparalysis and slurred speech) and asked “what is happening?”.
Resuts: From 1,475 interviewed individuals, 1,220 (82,7%) recognized the scenario as a stroke, and they used 4 words to identify the situation as a stroke, which were “AVC”, “derrame", “trombose” and "aneurisma". There were significant differences among them concerning demographic, economic, educational and geographical aspects. The group who stated “AVC” was younger, had more school years and lived in capitals. “Derrame” was cited often in Bahia and in the countryside cities; this group was made mostly of Blacks and Mullatos. “Trombose” was mentioned only in 5 states (Paraíba, Ceará, Maranhão, Piauí and Rio Grande do Norte), other states did not cite this name at all.
Conclusion: There are at least four words for stroke in Portuguese (“AVC”, “derrame”, “trombose” and "aneurisma"). Stroke campaigns should apply those alternative names to improve the compression of the general population.