The phone survey of more than 10,000 people found that 3.2 percent had TIA symptoms but never saw a physician about them. Among those with a TIA diagnosis, 16 percent saw the doctor more than a week after the symptoms occurred.
"People think that because these symptoms go away quickly, they don't need to worry about them, but that's definitely not the case," said study author and neurologist S. Claiborne Johnston, MD, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco. "People who've had a TIA are at high risk of having a stroke, particularly in the first few days after the TIA, and doctors can help them reduce that risk."
Johnston noted that people get to a hospital immediately, often through calling 911, for any stroke symptoms, even those that disappear. "Only a doctor can tell for sure whether you're having a stroke or a TIA," he said. "And if you're having a stroke, emergency medical treatment could save your life and greatly improve your chances for successful rehabilitation and recovery."
Men, those in minority groups, and those with lower income and fewer years of education were less likely to be knowledgeable about TIA than others.
The survey, sponsored by the National Stroke Association, involved 10,112 people who were chosen randomly, were 18 or older and spoke English. Of those, 2.3 percent reported having been told by a doctor that they had a TIA. That number translates into an estimated 4.9 million people in the United States who recall having a diagnosis of TIA, Johnston said. Those who were more likely to have a TIA diagnosis were people who were older, had lower income and/or had fewer years of education.
The study found that 2.3 percent of participants had been diagnosed with a stroke. Of those, 19 percent recalled having had a TIA prior to the stroke.
Johnston noted that the study is limited because participants were asked to remember events that happened months or years before. Another limitation was that some groups were not included in the sampling: those who declined to take the survey, those who did not speak English and those who do not have a telephone. Also, the survey did not include people living in institutions such as nursing homes, where the number of people with TIA and stroke would be expected to be greater.
The most common stroke or TIA symptoms are:
The study was supported by a grant to the National Stroke Association from Boehringer Ingelheim, Inc. Johnston is supported by grants from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 18,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to improving patient care through education and research. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as stroke, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, autism and multiple sclerosis.
For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit its web site at www.aan.com.
Editor's Note: May is National Stroke Awareness Month. For more information about stroke, visit www.stroke.org or www.thebrainmatters.org/stroke.htm.
Journal
Neurology