Knowledge, attitude, practice and illness perception toward subarachnoid hemorrhage prevention and management among intracranial aneurysm patients.

Objective: This study aims to explore the knowledge, attitude, practice and illness perception toward prevention and management of subarachnoid hemorrhages (SAH) among intracranial aneurysm (IA) patients.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between March 2023 and June 2023; demographic characteristics and KAP scores were collected by a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed by linear regression and path analysis.

Results: A total of 455 patients with IA were included, of them 26.37% experienced SAH before. Mean knowledge, attitude and practice scores were 16.60 ± 5.86, 16.39 ± 1.84, and 35.07 ± 3.51, respectively. The linear regression showed ethnic minority, married, education, family members in healthcare system, monthly per capita household income, experience ruptured intracranial aneurysms, smoking, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and aortic lesion were associated with knowledge scores. Age, ethnic minority, urban residence, education, family members in healthcare system, monthly per capita household income, duration of IA ≥6 months, experience ruptured intracranial aneurysms, smoking, diabetes, and aortic lesion were associated with attitude scores. Age, urban residence, monthly per capita household income, duration of IA ≥6 months, experience of ruptured intracranial aneurysms, smoking, diabetes, and aortic lesion were associated with practice scores. According to the path analysis, knowledge directly affected illness perception (β=0.156, P<0.001) and attitude (β=0.708, P<0.001), while attitude (β=0.909, P<0.001) and illness perception (β=0.039, P=0.027) affected practice.

Conclusions: Patients had positive attitudes towards SAH prevention and management, but a substantial knowledge gap was found along with notably delayed medical help-seeking behavior.