1. ABSTRACT
Background: Early identification of stroke symptoms and rapid access to the
emergency services can greatly increase an individual’s chance of receiving
thrombolytic therapy and reduce the likelihood of infirmity or premature death. The
UK’s Department of Health’s Act FAST campaign was developed in hope of
increasing public awareness of stroke symptoms and highlighting the importance of
rapid response to the emergency services. However, research suggests that the
campaign has little, or no, impact of increasing stroke symptom awareness or driving
response behaviour.
Aims and Methods: Semi-structured interviews with 8 stroke patients and 5 stroke
witnesses were conducted. Interviews were theory-guided content analysed, based
on the Common Sense Self-Regulation Model, to understand the appraisal process of
the onset of stroke symptoms and how this impacts on participants’ ability to apply
their knowledge of the FAST campaign.
Results: The majority of patients (n=8/13) failed to correctly identify with stroke and
consequently, with the campaign. This resulted in only 2 participants believing that
their knowledge of the campaign impacted their decision to respond in any way.
Conclusions: Although stroke patients and witnesses appraise their stroke
experiences differently, both predominantly fail to identify with stroke which equally
affects their ability to apply FAST when it really matters. Inaccurate risk perceptions
and lack of physical control both play central roles in influencing the formation of
incorrect illness representation not associated with an emergency.
Keywords: stroke, FAST, campaign, CS-SRM, qualitative analysis