Stress resilience in male adolescents and subsequent stroke risk: cohort study

Objective Exposure to psychosocial stress has been identified as a possible stroke risk, but the role of stress resilience which may be relevant to chronic exposure is uncertain. We investigated the association of stress resilience in adolescence with subsequent stroke risk. Methods Register-based cohort study. Some 237 879 males born between 1952 and 1956 were followed from 1987 to 2010 using information from Swedish registers. Cox regression estimated the association of stress resilience with stroke, after adjustment for established stroke risk factors. Results Some 3411 diagnoses of first stroke were identified. Lowest stress resilience (21.8%) compared with the highest (23.7%) was associated with increased stroke risk, producing unadjusted HR (with 95% CIs) of 1.54 (1.40 to 1.70). The association attenuated slightly to 1.48 (1.34 to 1.63) after adjustment for markers of socioeconomic circumstances in childhood; and after further adjustment for markers of development and disease in adolescence (blood pressure, cognitive function and pre-existing cardiovascular disease) to 1.30 (1.18 to 1.45). The greatest reduction followed further adjustment for markers of physical fitness (BMI and physical working capacity) in adolescence to 1.16 (1.04 to 1.29). The results were consistent when stroke was subdivided into fatal, ischaemic and haemorrhagic, with higher magnitude associations for fatal rather than non-fatal, and for haemorrhagic rather than ischaemic stroke. Conclusions Stress susceptibility and, therefore, psychosocial stress may be implicated in the aetiology of stroke. This association may be explained, in part, by poorer physical fitness. Effective prevention might focus on behaviour/lifestyle and psychosocial stress

Data mining for prediction of length of stay of cardiovascular accident inpatients

The healthcare sector generates large amounts of data on a daily basis. This data holds valuable knowledge that, beyond supporting a wide range of medical and healthcare functions such as clinical decision support, can be used for improving profits and cutting down on wasted overhead. The evaluation and analysis of stored clinical data may lead to the discovery of trends and patterns that can significantly enhance overall understanding of disease progression and clinical management. Data mining techniques aim precisely at the extraction of useful knowledge from raw data. This work describes an implementation of a data mining project approach to predict the hospitalization period of cardiovascular accident patients. This provides an effective tool for the hospital cost containment and management efficiency. The data used for this project contains information about patients hospitalized in Cardiovascular Accident’s unit in 2016 for having suffered a stroke. The Weka software was used as the machine learning toolkit.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (UID/CEC/00319/2013

The SOS Pilot Study: a RCT of routine oxygen supplementation early after acute stroke—effect on recovery of neurological function at one week

Mild hypoxia is common after stroke and associated with poor long-term outcome. Oxygen supplementation could prevent hypoxia and improve recovery. A previous study of routine oxygen supplementation showed no significant benefit at 7 and 12 months. This pilot study reports the effects of routine oxygen supplementation for 72 hours on oxygen saturation and neurological outcomes at 1 week after a stroke

Sex Differences in Disease Profiles, Management, and Outcomes Among People with Atrial Fibrillation After Ischemic Stroke: Aggregated and Individual Participant Data Meta-Analyses

Objectives: To examine sex differences in disease profiles, management, and survival at 1 and 5 years after ischemic stroke (IS) among people with atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: We performed a systematic literature search of reports of AF at IS onset according to sex. We undertook an individual participant data meta-analysis (IPDMA) of nine population-based stroke incidence studies conducted in Australasia, Europe, and South America (1993-2014). Poisson regression was used to estimate women:men mortality rate ratios (MRRs). Study-specific MRRs were combined using random effects meta-analysis. Results: In our meta-analysis based on aggregated data from 101 studies, the pooled AF prevalence was 23% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 22%-25%) in women and 17% (15%-18%) in men. Our IPDMA is of 1,862 IS-AF cases, with women (79.2 ± 9.1, years) being older than men (76.5 ± 9.5, years). Crude pooled mortality rate was greater for women than for men (1-year MRR 1.24; 1.01-1.51; 5-year 1.12; 1.03-1.22). However, the sex difference was greatly attenuated after accounting for age, prestroke function, and stroke severity (1-year 1.09; 0.97-1.22; 5-year 0.98; 0.84-1.16). Women were less likely to have anticoagulant prescription at discharge (odds ratio [OR] 0.94; 95% CI: 0.89-0.98) than men when pooling IPDMA and aggregated data. Conclusions: AF was more prevalent after IS among women than among men. Among IS-AF cases, women were less likely to receive anticoagulant agents at discharge; however, greater mortality rate in women was mostly attributable to prestroke factors. Further information needs to be collected in population-based studies to understand the reasons for lower treatment of AF in women

Cognitive impairment after lacunar stroke: systematic review and meta-analysis of incidence, prevalence and comparison with other stroke subtypes

Funding SDJM is supported by a Wellcome Trust Project Grant (WT088134/Z/09/A). JMW is supported by the Scottish Funding Council through the Scottish Imaging Network, A Platform for Scientific Excellence (SINAPSE) Initiative (http://www. sinapse.ac.uk). The study was independent of the funders.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The incidence of all stroke and stroke subtype in the United Kingdom, 1985 to 2008: a systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is considerable geographic variation in stroke mortality around the United Kingdom (UK). Whether this is due to geographical differences in incidence or case-fatality is unclear. We conducted a systematic review of high-quality studies documenting the incidence of any stroke and stroke subtypes, between 1985 and 2008 in the UK. We aimed to study geographic and temporal trends in relation to equivalent mortality trends.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched, reference lists inspected and authors of included papers were contacted. All rates were standardised to the European Standard Population for those over 45, and between 45 and 74 years. Stroke mortality rates for the included areas were then calculated to produce rate ratios of stroke mortality to incidence for each location.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Five papers were included in this review. Geographic variation was narrow but incidence appeared to largely mirror mortality rates for all stroke. For men over 45, incidence (and confidence intervals) per 100,000 ranged from 124 (109-141) in South London, to 185 (164-208) in Scotland. For men, premature (45-74 years) stroke incidence per 100,000 ranged from 79 (67-94) in the North West, to 112 (95-132) in Scotland. Stroke subtype data was more geographically restricted, but did suggest there is no sizeable variation in incidence by subtype around the country. Only one paper, based in South London, had data on temporal trends. This showed that there has been a decline in stroke incidence since the mid 1990 s. This could not be compared to any other locations in this review.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Geographic variations in stroke incidence appear to mirror variations in mortality rates. This suggests policies to reduce inequalities in stroke mortality should be directed at risk factor profiles rather than treatment after a first incident event. More high quality stroke incidence data from around the UK are needed before this can be confirmed.</p

Temporal trends in hospitalisation for stroke recurrence following incident hospitalisation for stroke in Scotland

&lt;p&gt;Background: There are few studies that have investigated temporal trends in risk of recurrent stroke. The aim of this study was to examine temporal trends in hospitalisation for stroke recurrence following incident hospitalisation for stroke in Scotland during 1986 to 2001.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Methods: Unadjusted survival analysis of time to first event, hospitalisation for recurrent stroke or death, was undertaken using the cumulative incidence method which takes into account competing risks. Regression on cumulative incidence functions was used to model the temporal trends of first recurrent stroke with adjustment for age, sex, socioeconomic status and comorbidity. Complete five year follow-up was obtained for all patients. Restricted cubic splines were used to determine the best fitting relationship between the survival events and study year.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Results: There were 128,511 incident hospitalisations for stroke in Scotland between 1986 and 2001, 57,351 (45%) in men. A total of 13,835 (10.8%) patients had a recurrent hospitalisation for stroke within five years of their incident hospitalisation. Another 74,220 (57.8%) patients died within five years of their incident hospitalisation without first having a recurrent hospitalisation for stroke. Comparing incident stroke hospitalisations in 2001 with 1986, the adjusted risk of recurrent stroke hospitalisation decreased by 27%, HR = 0.73 95% CI (0.67 to 0.78), and the adjusted risk of death being the first event decreased by 28%, HR = 0.72 (0.70 to 0.75).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Conclusions: Over the 15-year period approximately 1 in 10 patients with an incident hospitalisation for stroke in Scotland went on to have a hospitalisation for recurrent stroke within five years. Approximately 6 in 10 patients died within five years without first having a recurrent stroke hospitalisation. Using hospitalisation and death data from an entire country over a 20-year period we have been able to demonstrate not only an improvement in survival following an incident stroke, but also a reduction in the risk of a recurrent event.&lt;/p&gt

Determinants of Fatigue after First-Ever Ischemic Stroke during Acute Phase

© 2014 The Authors. Published by PLOS. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0110037 A correction to the article was made on 19/12/2012: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.011646

Knowledge of stroke risk factors among primary care patients with previous stroke or TIA: a questionnaire study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Survivers of stroke or transient ischaemic attacks (TIA) are at risk of new vascular events. Our objective was to study primary health care patients with stroke/TIA regarding their knowledge about risk factors for having a new event of stroke/TIA, possible associations between patient characteristics and patients' knowledge about risk factors, and patients' knowledge about their preventive treatment for stroke/TIA.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A questionnaire was distributed to 240 patients with stroke/TIA diagnoses, and 182 patients (76%) responded. We asked 13 questions about diseases/conditions and lifestyle factors known to be risk factors and four questions regarding other diseases/conditions ("distractors"). The patients were also asked whether they considered each disease/condition to be one of their own. Additional questions concerned the patients' social and functional status and their drug use. The t-test was used for continuous variables, chi-square test for categorical variables, and a regression model with variables influencing patient knowledge was created.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Hypertension, hyperlipidemia and smoking were identified as risk factors by nearly 90% of patients, and atrial fibrillation and diabetes by less than 50%. Few patients considered the distractors as stroke/TIA risk factors (3-6%). Patients with a family history of cardiovascular disease, and patients diagnosed with carotid stenosis, atrial fibrillation or diabetes, knew these were stroke/TIA risk factors to a greater extent than patients without these conditions. Atrial fibrillation or a family history of cardiovascular disease was associated with better knowledge about risk factors, and higher age, cerebral haemorrhage and living alone with poorer knowledge. Only 56% of those taking anticoagulant drugs considered this as intended for prevention, while 48% of those taking platelet aggregation inhibitors thought this was for prevention.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Knowledge about hypertension, hyperlipidemia and smoking as risk factors was good, and patients who suffered from atrial fibrillation or carotid stenosis seemed to be well informed about these conditions as risk factors. However, the knowledge level was low regarding diabetes as a risk factor and regarding the use of anticoagulants and platelet aggregation inhibitors for stroke/TIA prevention. Better teaching strategies for stroke/TIA patients should be developed, with special attention focused on diabetic patients.</p