Table 1 Research question and inclusion & exclusion criteria using the PEO(S) framework [23]

Population

• Adult humans (aged 18 years and over)

• Countries in the WHO European region [26] (Table 2)

• Children only

• Individuals who have had a stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA)

• Family members / caregivers of stroke patients

• Countries outside the WHO European region [26] (Table 2)

Exposure of Interest

• Socioeconomic position (education, income and/or occupation-derived measures)

• Studies not analysing at least one aspect of socioeconomic position

Outcome

Stroke knowledge:

• Risk factors

• Warning signs

• Stroke knowledge following an intervention (if no baseline data)

• Studies on stroke knowledge but not broken down by warning signs and/or risk factors

Study Designs

• Cross-sectional studies

• Cohort studies

• Baseline data of intervention studies (e.g. RCTs, pre-post studies)

• Case studies

• Editorials

• Qualitative research

• Systematic reviews