Impact of the national public 'FAST' campaigns

To report the impact of the New Zealand FAST campaigns on behaviour change and public awareness.

The Ministry of Health funded three consecutive three-month national FAST campaigns in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Formal pre- and post-campaign evaluations were conducted in 2017 and 2018 using UMR Research Limited's nationally representative omnibus surveys of New Zealand adults aged over 18 with boosters for Māori and Pasifika respondents. St John Ambulance provided data on ambulance callouts for suspected and paramedic 'confirmed' strokes before, during and following campaigns.

Before the 2017 campaign, 71.7% (774/1,079) identified speech and/or arm weakness as a stroke sign compared with 75.9% (943/1,242) after the 2018 campaign (p=0.022). 'Time critical' awareness increased from 8.1% (87/1,079) before to 31.7% (394/1,242) after (p<0.0001). Māori and Pasifika rates showed similar patterns. Average daily ambulance calls for suspected stroke increased from 21.5 to 25.7 (p<0.01) and for paramedic confirmed stroke from 6.0 to 7.2 (p<0.02). Between the pre-2017 and post-2018 campaigns the thrombolysis rates increased from 8.1% to 9.7% (p<0.02). Stroke awareness dropped slightly between the 2017 post- and 2018 pre-campaign evaluations.

The New Zealand stroke public campaigns were associated with a rise in stroke symptom recognition, time-critical awareness, ambulance stroke notifications and thrombolysis rates. The uncontrolled nature of this study necessitates consideration of other potential contributing factors when interpreting results. Ongoing campaigns for continual reinforcement appear important.