ATTITUDES AND KNOWLEDGE OF PARAMEDICS ABOUT RECOGNITION OF ACUTE STROKE AND PRE-HOSPITAL STOKE CARE IN NORTHERN CYPRUS*

Abstract

A Stroke is defined as a sudden dysfunction caused by the interruption of blood flow to the brain. Timely inter- vention is vital, making rapid and effective paramedic response critical. In this study, our purpose is to evalu- ate the knowledge and behaviors of paramedics toward pre-hospital stroke care in Northern Cyprus. In this descriptive study, an online questionnaire that was pre- pared by researchers was distributed to paramedics in Northern Cyprus. The data from the survey were ana- lyzed with descriptive statistics and chi-square tests by using SPSS v26. The value of p<0.05 is accepted as sta- tistically significant. 36 out of 50 active paramedics par- ticipated in the study. 63.9% of paramedics work in public hospitals. Although 72.2% of paramedics are educated in stroke, 61.1% of paramedics could not esti- mate the exact time period for the initiation of throm- bolytic therapy. Paramedics who have stroke education have higher knowledge of the pre-hospital diagnosis scale (p=0.004). Private hospital paramedics have significantly less knoeledge of pre-hostpital diagnosis scale and about the hospitals with stroke unit. Multi-categorical evaluations demonstrated inadequate knowledge andpre-hospital management of stroke among paramedics. Periodic education must be held for paramedics to improve their knowledge about pre- hospital stroke care and treatment.