Results: Hypertension, hyperlipidemia and smoking were identified as risk factors by nearly 90% of patients, and atrial
fibrillation and diabetes by less than 50%. Few patients considered the distractors as stroke/TIA risk factors (3-6%).
Patients with a family history of cardiovascular disease, and patients diagnosed with carotid stenosis, atrial fibrillation or
diabetes, knew these were stroke/TIA risk factors to a greater extent than patients without these conditions. Atrial
fibrillation or a family history of cardiovascular disease was associated with better knowledge about risk factors, and
higher age, cerebral haemorrhage and living alone with poorer knowledge. Only 56% of those taking anticoagulant
drugs considered this as intended for prevention, while 48% of those taking platelet aggregation inhibitors thought
this was for prevention.