Hip Hop Stroke: Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial to Address Stroke Literacy

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Communication
• Pediatric Health Education

Background:

• Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in the US.
• Acute stroke treatments have narrow time windows, limiting effectiveness.
• Economically disadvantaged minority communities experience the greatest pre-hospital delays.

Purpose of the Study:

• To reduce pre-hospital delays to acute stroke treatments.
• To improve stroke literacy in urban minority communities.
• To evaluate the Hip Hop Stroke (HHS) intervention.

Main Methods:

• Hip Hop Stroke (HHS) is a school-based, child-mediated multimedia intervention.
• Intervention targets 4th-6th grade students and their parents in poor urban communities.
• Children share stroke information with parents; stroke knowledge assessed at baseline, post-program, and 3-months.

Main Results:

• The primary outcome is the effect of child mediation on parental stroke literacy.
• Stroke-literate children can disseminate vital health information into households.
• This approach may overcome low mass media campaign penetration in certain communities.

Conclusions:

• School-aged children are a viable channel for improving stroke literacy in underserved households.
• Children can play a key role in recognizing stroke symptoms and initiating emergency response.
• The HHS program demonstrates the potential of child-mediated interventions to reduce pre-hospital stroke treatment delays.