Impact of stroke education on middle school students and their parents: A cluster randomized trial

Background School students are an attractive target for stroke education due to the potential impact on stroke prevention and recognition. Additionally, these students can drive behavioral changes in their families. Aim To evaluate the impact of stroke education on school students, in terms of students' and parents' acquired stroke knowledge. Methods A structured questionnaire on knowledge of stroke was filled out by eighth-grade students and one of their parents in seven public schools. In four of these schools, students attended a stroke lecture; educational flyers and magnetic posters were distributed and parent education was encouraged. Students and parents of the other three schools were included in a control group. Students and parents, of both intervention and control groups, were resubmitted to the initial structured questionnaire within one week of the stroke lecture and three months later. Results We included 764 students and 344 parents, 383 (50.1%) and 210 (61.0%) in the intervention group. Correct test scores for students before, within one week, and three months after the intervention were 54.49% versus 55.03% (p = 0.418), 98.69% versus 60.89% (p < 0.001), and 95.58% versus 75.7% (p < 0.001) in the intervention and control groups, respectively. Correct test scores for parents at the same time points were 68.78% versus 64.47% (p = 0.107), 96.89% versus 71.42% (p < 0.001), and 94.58% versus 76.54% (p < 0.001) in the intervention and control groups, respectively. Conclusions School-based interventions may improve stroke knowledge in middle school students and their parents.