Knowledge of risk factors and warning signs of stroke samples (Kothari et al 1997; Hux et al 2000; Weltermann et al 2000), and the results of these studies would therefore need to be interpreted with caution. Ideally, response rates for community-based surveys should be 80% or more. When responses fall below this level, it is possible that those subjects who did not respond to the survey may have been substantially different from those who did, thereby adversely affecting the result. Only two of the studies reviewed here had response rates greater than 80% (Kothari et al 1997; Weltermann et al 2000), while the remainder varied from 70% to as low as 45%. Knowledge of warning signs In the majority of publications in this review, the authors have grouped responses to questions about stroke knowledge into categories that closely resemble the five stroke warning Table 1 Summary of all studies Interview method Number of respondents Response rate Mean age Question type Assessment type Multivariate analysis Community Face-to-face 40 Not stated SS, RF, prevention Yes for SS, No for RF Not stated Estimate = 48 Open ended Health problem identification 65 Open ended SS, RF 1880 2173 822 2512 892 602 867 133 61 019 163 Not stated Estimate = 45 Not stated Estimate = 47 47.8% 41(median) 71.2% 69.0% 62.0% 45.4% 46.0% 35.8% 96.2% 53.3% 93.7% 190 Not stated Not stated Estimate = 43 Not stated Estimate = 47 Face-to-face 40 Not stated Telephone (74%) and face-to-face (26%) Face-to-face 1253 55.8% Not stated Estimate = 64 410 Not stated Abbreviations: TIA, transient ischemic attack; ED, emergency department; SS, signs and symptoms; RF, risk factor. Vascular Health and Risk Management 2005:1(2) Authors Low risk groups Cincinnati USA (Pancioli et al 1998) Cincinnati USA (Schneider et al 2003) Newcastle Australia (Yoon et al 2001a, 2001b) Michigan USA (Reeves et al 2002) Northern Ireland (Parahoo et al 2003) Devon UK (Carroll et al 2004) Georgia USA (Rowe et al 2001) USA (Mosca et al 2000) Northrhine- Westfalian region, Germany (Weltermann et al 2000) Lincoln, USA (Hux et al 2000) USA (Greenlund et al 2003) High risk groups Cincinnati USA (Kothari et al 1997) Devon UK (Carroll et al 2004) USA (Samsa et al 1997) Cardiff UK (Gupta and Thomas 2002) Sample Community Telephone Community Telephone Urban community Telephone Community Telephone Community Mail-out Community Telephone Community Telephone Stroke support group members Self- administered Community (shopping mall) Community Face-to-face Telephone ED diagnosis of Face-to-face stroke or TIA People with recent stroke and TIA Past history of stroke or TIA, or people with risk factors for stroke Hospital clinic – people with risk factors for stroke Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No Yes No No Yes No 139 63 61 49 71 65 71 78 Open ended Open ended Open and closed ended Open ended Open and closed ended Open ended Open and closed ended Open and closed ended Closed ended Open ended Open ended Open ended Open and closed ended SS, RF, prevention SS, RF SS, RF SS, RF SS, RF SS, RF SS, RF SS SS, RF SS, RF Self-risk of stroke SS, RF