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Epidemiology of classical risk factors in stroke patients in the Middle East
Author(s) -
Behrouz R.,
Powers C. J.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
european journal of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.881
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1468-1331
pISSN - 1351-5101
DOI - 10.1111/ene.12742
Subject(s) - medicine , stroke (engine) , diabetes mellitus , crfs , epidemiology , population , atrial fibrillation , cohort , prospective cohort study , cohort study , pediatrics , environmental health , endocrinology , mechanical engineering , conditional random field , natural language processing , computer science , engineering
The Middle East ( ME ) is an ethnically and economically diverse region. A systematic review of all stroke studies conducted in the ME was carried out, with the aim of determining the prevalence of classic vascular risk factors ( CRF s) across this region. Additionally, the prevalence of CRF s in the ME was compared to that of a US cohort. Prospective and retrospective ME stroke studies published from 1994 to 2014 were searched for that specifically reported on the prevalence of CRF s. The Z test for proportions was used to determine the significance of differences in CRF rates between the ME and non‐ ME studies. A total of 21 724 stroke patients from 13 nations in the ME were included. The prevalence rates for CRF s in the ME stroke population were hypertension, 62.1%; diabetes, 33.1%; dyslipidaemia, 36.8%; ischaemic heart disease, 24.6%; smoking, 19.3%; and atrial fibrillation, 13.6%. Compared to the US cohort, ME patients had a lower prevalence of all CRF s except diabetes ( P < 0.0001) and smoking ( P = 0.05). Compared with stroke patients in the USA , those in the ME have a significantly higher prevalence of diabetes and smoking. Education and lifestyle modification is perhaps the most effective strategy in reducing the risk of stroke in this population.