Study: 10 to 15% of people with TIAs will experience strokes within three months

A 2006 study in the journal Stroke found that only 44.1 percent of TIA patients - mostly those with motor symptoms - seek medical attention. "One factor may be minimization or ignorance on the part of TIA patients, relatives and friends, or on the other hand, under-diagnosis or under-prioritization by physicians," Chaudhry, Biller and Flaster write.

And even when patients do seek treatment and are correctly diagnosed, some may resist hospitalization because their symptoms have gone away.

Factors that help predict whether a TIA patient is at especially high risk for subsequent stroke include age over 60, high blood pressure, weakness on one side of the body, isolated speech difficulties, diabetes and symptoms lasting an hour or more.

Source: Loyola University Health System