As we noted in class, strokes are largely preventable -- mainly through blood pressure management, behavior modification, etc. According to a recent study (link included below), 25% of people who suffer a stroke will die within the next year! This level of mortality is quite significant -- but I wonder how many people would guess that it was that high? In another recent study, researchers found that many Americans rate their own health as higher than their peers. In fact, about 30% of the 2000 people surveyed gave themselves an "A" in health. Conversely, 92% of physicians gave the same subjects a grade of "C" or lower for health. Perhaps we are not as self-aware as we imagine ourselves to be!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35410389/ns/health-heart_health/
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I do find that generally people are over-optimistic/unrealistic on their current health status. Especially those individuals under 40 years old. What would be interesting to know is what leads them to believe so. In other words, what criterion are they using for this self-assessment. Maybe knowing that could guide our interventions as nurses to address this false image.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting information to have because heart attacks and strokes have occurred very frequently in my family. Especially, happening to the males. After learning about strokes, I realized how lucky my aunt was to be able to regain as much as she did.
ReplyDeleteI think that people want to believe that they are healthier than they actually are so they do not have to think about significant consequences like stroke and heart attack. Some people are just truly ignorant about their health and are unaware of the many aspects of personal health. Doctors need to inform their patients about all the risks associated with their age and health status to help prevent some of these serious issues.
ReplyDeleteI tried commenting on this earlier this week but couldn't. Any who, I did my presentation on strokes and it is just insane so see the mortality rate within the first year of having a stroke and me having a grandfather who has had 4 and is still going strong. It makes you wonder how accurate these statistics really are. Are these people passing away from stroke related symptoms or are they getting killed? Getting an infection? Being impaled? Who knows how they actually get these statistics. Also, I would be one of those people to rate my health A but know id be in the C range just because of certain habits. Like Mary stated, I want to believe I am healthier than what I really am.
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