Survey finds most people with one transient ischemic attack symptom do not call 911
More than one-third of respondents reported having at least one symptom consistent with a transient ischemic attack (TIA), according to a survey from the American Heart Association (AHA) and American Stroke Association (ASA).
However, although 55 percent of respondents said they would call 911 if they had TIA symptoms, only 3 percent of people experiencing such symptoms actually called 911.
The AHA and ASA announced the results in a news release on May 1. The survey was part of the ASA’s Together to End Stroke campaign, which Medtronic sponsors.
Of the 2,040 adults who completed the survey, 77 percent said they had not heard of TIA. The AHA and ASA said that adults who experience a TIA have the same symptoms as those who have a stroke, but the TIA-associated symptoms are shorter and last from a few minutes up to 24 hours. The organizations added that 15 percent of strokes are heralded by a TIA and that people who have a TIA are more likely to have a stroke within 90 days.
“Officially, about five million Americans, or 2.3 percent, have had a self-reported, physician-diagnosed TIA, but as this survey suggests, we suspect the true prevalence is higher because many people who experience symptoms consistent with a TIA fail to report it,” Mitch Elkind, MD, chair of the ASA, said in a news release.
The survey found that 35 percent of respondents had at least one sign of a TIA, although those adults were more likely to wait, rest or take medicine than call 911. The most common reported symptoms were sudden, severe headaches with no known cause (20 percent of respondents) and sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination (14 percent).
“Ignoring any stroke sign could be a deadly mistake,” said Mitch Elkind, MD, chair of the American Stroke Association. “Only a formal medical diagnosis with brain imaging can determine whether you’re having a TIA or a stroke. If you or someone you know experiences a stroke warning sign that comes on suddenly—whether it goes away or not—call 911 right away to improve chances of an accurate diagnosis, treatment and recovery.”
Executive Editor
Tim Casey joined TriMed Media Group in 2015 as Executive Editor. For the previous four years, he worked as an editor and writer for HMP Communications, primarily focused on covering managed care issues and reporting from medical and health care conferences. He was also a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee for more than four years covering professional, college and high school sports. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA degree from Georgetown University.