Brief interventions: a useful tool for stroke nurses.

摘要

Fear of recurrence is common following stroke, and stroke patients are keen to identify the cause of their stroke (Townend et al, 2006; Lawrence, 2010). If patients can identify a cause, they can be empowered to take appropriate action that may help to prevent stroke recurrence. A recent, large-scale, international case-control study has identified five risk factors that account for more than 80% of the global risk of all stroke (ischaemic and intracerebral haemorrhagic), namely hypertension, current smoking, abdominal obesity, diet, and physical activity (O'Donnell et al, 2010). Stroke nurses have a key role to play in the identification and assessment of risk factors, including lifestyle risk factors, following stroke, and they are ideally placed to initiate early health promotion strategies, in the form of brief interventions (Lawrence et al, 2009).