Abstract
Background: Stroke is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality globally. Stroke patient’s care is complex and the family caregivers need knowledge. Insufficient knowledge of stroke family caregivers is the major contributing factor that leads to post-stroke complications, frequent hospital readmissions, and use of health care resources.
Objective: To assess the level of knowledge of family caregivers regarding post-discharge care for stroke patients at tertiary care hospitals.
Material & Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using a consecutive sampling technique. A total of hundred (100) stroke family caregivers were recruited with age ≥ 18 years. The self-administered tool was used for data collection. The data was collected from August 2018 to September 2018 from two tertiary care hospitals in Islamabad.
Results: Only 7% of family caregivers had high, 50% had average and 43% had low levels of knowledge regarding post-discharge care of stroke patients. The mean knowledge score was 30.86 and the standard deviation (SD + 5.29). The participants comprised of male 76% of the sample with a mean age of 35 years.
Conclusion: The majority of the stroke family caregivers had a low level of knowledge about stroke risk factors, stroke warning signs, nutrition care, and psycho-social care. There is a need to conduct routine educational sessions and improve the post-discharge teaching strategies for stroke family caregivers at the time of discharge.