Original Scientific Articles
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Introduction: Aphasia is an acquired language disorder most commonly caused by stroke, but public awareness remains low. No systematic assessment of aphasia awareness has been published in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim of this work was to assess aphasia awareness among residents of Bileća, Banja Luka and Sarajevo.
Methods: A cross‑sectional convenience sample of 150 adults (67 men, 83 women; 18-78 years) was recruited in public spaces. An adapted Aphasia Awareness Survey was administered after translation and piloting. Descriptive statistics and chi‑square tests were used.
Results: A total of 67.3% of respondents (95% CI: 59.8-74.8) had never heard the term “aphasia”, while 32.7% had. Among the latter, 38.8% correctly defined aphasia as a language disorder, meaning 12.7% (95% CI: 7.3-18.0) of the total sample could define it correctly. Stroke awareness was 98.7% (95% CI: 96.8-100.0). No significant sex differ ence for aphasia awareness was found (χ²=2.08, p=0.150). Borderline difference for stroke awareness was (χ²=3.79, p=0.051). Age groups (<30 vs ?30 years) showed identical proportions (32.7% each). Education was significantly associated with aphasia awareness (χ²=6.42, p=0.040). Most respondents (60.0%) did not know the cause of apha sia; 36.7% correctly identified brain damage.
Conclusion: Awareness of aphasia is very low despite high stroke awareness. Education campaigns explicitly linking aphasia to stroke are needed. Education had a small‑to‑moderate association (Cramer’s V=0.21). Findings are limited by the convenience sample.
Keywords: aphasia, aphasia awareness, public knowledge, Bosnia and Herzegovina, cross‑sectional survey
How to Cite: Ilić, S. & Vuković, M. (2026) “Low public awareness of aphasia despite high stroke awareness: a three‐city cross‐sectional study from Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Biomedicinska istraživanja. 17(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.59137/BII202601622I