Ramakrishna Gorantla1, P.V. Kalyan Kumar2, K. Sravani3
BACKGROUND
Stroke is a leading public health problem; it is second to heart disease
worldwide as a cause of death and long-term disability. The treatment of patients
with ischaemic stroke is still not very well understood; so, prevention of stroke is
a better option. The incidence of stroke can be reduced by adequate control of
risk factors. This study intends to assess the most common risk factors in patients
with ischaemic stroke and its prognosis.
METHODS
Sixty-five patients with ischaemic stroke who met the inclusion criteria were
evaluated with a comprehensive clinical history, a detailed physical examination
and relevant investigations. Progress during the hospital stay was also
recorded.
RESULTS
At the end of the study, it was noted that the incidence of stroke in males was
58.4 % (95 % CI 0.86 % to 0.90 %). 50.9 % (95 % CI 0.76 % to 0.92 %) of
stroke occurred in people aged above 60 years. The most common risk factors
were smoking (46.2 %), hypertension (38.46 %), dyslipidemia (18.46 %), alcohol
consumption (15.39 %), diabetes mellitus (13.09 %), heart diseases (10.7 %),
tobacco chewing (9.23 %), history of recent delivery (1.6 %) and family history
of stroke (1.6 %). It was also noted that 72.3 % of patients who had multiple risk
factors, of which 7 % had a complete recovery, while 22.2 % of patients with
single risk factor had a complete recovery.
CONCLUSIONS
It was found that stroke was more common in males when compared to females,
and increasing age (> 60 years) was associated with an increased incidence of
stroke. The most common modifiable risk factors were smoking, hypertension,
dyslipidemia, alcohol consumption and diabetes mellitus. The most common
non modifiable risk factors were increasing age, male sex and family history of
stroke. Prognosis depends on the number of risk factors present. It was also
found that increasing age, hyperglycemia, and multiple risk factors were
associated with poor prognosis.
