CONTEXTO E OBJETIVOS: Em um hospital universitário, entrevista direta de amostras estratificadas dos 3587 funcionários, visando determinar o nível de conhecimento e a conduta prática do corpo social diante do acidente vascular cerebral ou encefálico (AVE). Estabelecer prioridades para esforços educacionais. MÉTODO: Pré-teste para otimização do instrumento e cálculo amostrai. Entrevista de 309 funcionários sorteados. Inquérito consistindo em 32 questões sobre fisiopatologia, epidemiologia e mortalidade, clínica, fatores de risco, evolução e tratamento, comportamento pessoal diante da doença. Teste de Kruskal-Wallis para múltiplas comparações de dados não-paramétricos. RESULTADOS: O corpo social do hospital exibiu baixo nível de conhecimento teórico sobre o AVE e atitudes errôneas diante da doença. A performance dos enfermeiros foi superior à de auxiliares, técnicos e atendentes de enfermagem. O corpo de enfermagem, apesar de pontuar melhor na entrevista que a população leiga, mantém-se desinformado sobre as novas possibilidades terapêuticas e dissemina mitos sobre a doença. Entre os grupos profissionais leigos, o nível de educação formal não influenciou a performance na entrevista. CONCLUSÕES: A comunidade leiga e de saúde do HUCFF não reconhece adequadamente os sintomas típicos, a evolução provável dos pacientes e a necessidade de intervir rapidamente diante da doença cerebrovascular. O corpo de enfermagem não está preparado para a tarefa de difundir conceitos corretos sobre a doença. Somente programas específicos de educação continuada podem reverter este quadro, e devem ser considerados prioritários.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to evaluate professionals working at a university hospital as to their knowledge and attitudes towards stroke. METHODS: Individuals working in the hospital were divided in two groups, health care workers (HCW) and non-health care workers (NHCW), and further subdivided according to level of schooling, resulting in seven strata. A closed questionnaire addressing epidemiology, risk factors, pathophysiology, typical symptoms, treatment, clinical course and personal attitudes towards smoking and blood pressure control, was applied to a random sample of each stratum (total n = 309). Kruskal-Wallis test for multiple comparisons of non-parametric data was used. RESULTS: Significant differences between the seven groups were found. Knowledge was strongly associated with being a HCW and with level of formal education (p<0.001), even after excluding physicians from the analysis (p<0.001). In NHCW groups, knowledge was not associated with level of education (p=0.421). In these groups, personal fear of suffering a stroke was the only variable predictive of knowledge. Smoking and poor monitoring of blood pressure levels were also more common in strata with the lowest levels of education and among NHCW. CONCLUSION: Poor knowledge and wrong attitudes towards stroke are frequent among individuals working in a Brazilian university hospital. Although these results are not necessarily applicable to the general population, they will certainly be useful for the development of educational programs on stroke.

OBJETIVOS: Determinar o nível de conhecimento e a conduta prática dos médicos de um hospital universitário diante do acidente vascular cerebral encefálico (AVE). Contexto: Hospital Universitário. Entrevista direta de amostra de 762 médicos e professores. MÉTODO: Pré-teste para otimização do instrumento e cálculo amostrai. Entrevista de 48 médicos sorteados. Inquérito consistindo em 32 questões sobre fisiopatologia, epidemiologia e mortalidade, clínica, fatores de risco, evolução e tratamento, comportamento pessoal diante da doença. RESULTADOS: Os médicos revelam adequado nível de conhecimento teórico sobre o AVE. Entretanto valorizam excessivamente a presença de cefaléia como indicador da doença, e tendem a subestimar a importância epidemiológica e as possibilidades de intervenção e recuperação após o icto. CONCLUSÕES: A comunidade estudada não parece ter absorvido as mudanças fundamentais de atitude médica diante da doença cerebrovascular. A necessidade de disseminar o conceito do AVE como urgência médica exigirá esforços educacionais específicos em nível de graduação e pós-graduação.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to evaluate physicians working at a University Hospital as to their knowledge and attitudes towards stroke. METHODS: Individuals working in the hospital were divided in two groups, Health care workers (HCW) and non-Health care workers (NHCW), and further subdivided according to level of schooling, resulting in seven strata. A closed questionnaire addressing epidemiology, risk factors, pathophysiology, typical symptoms, treatment, clinical course and personal attitudes towards smoking and blood pressure control, was applied to a random sample of each stratum (total n = 309). The physicians group included 48 individuals. Kruskal-Wallis test for multiple comparisons of non-parametric data was used. Special attention was given to the wrong answers. RESULTS: Physicians correctly answered 92.6% of the questions. Their performance was superior to that of all other groups in all subgroups of questions. However, a large number of errors was found in questions addressing mortality and hospital mortality following stroke and the intimate relation between coronary and cerebral atherosclerosis. Treatment options in cerebral infarction are also poorly recognised. CONCLUSION: Although physicians general knowledge about stroke is good, they frequently do not perceive it as a critical disease requiring urgent hospital evaluation and care. The importance of a thorough cardiac evaluation following stroke and of the intimate relation between cardiac and cerebral ischemic disease is also unclear to this group. More hours of stroke teaching and practical training in stroke could possibly fill these gaps.