Article Synopsis |  | In Australia approximately one in four deaths are due to cardiovascular disease with one in ten being attributed to stroke. The risk factors for such deaths from stroke have not been fully clarified although indicators such as hypertension, atrial fibrillation and the occurrence of a previous stroke are strong factors for consideration.
This study, carried out over a period of 98 months, looks at particular indicators, which could determine an increased risk from stroke in 2805 men and women aged 60 years and over.
The study revealed that significant independent predictors of stroke were: advancing age, female sex (48 per cent lower risk), being married (30 per cent lower risk), prior history of stroke (227 per cent higher), use of anti-hypertensive drugs (37 per cent higher risk), belonging to the highest category of blood pressure reading (67 per cent higher risk), presence of atrial fibrillation (58 per cent higher risk), HDL cholesterol (36 per cent lower risk for each 1-mmol/L increment), impaired peak expiratory flow (77 per cent higher for tertile I than tertile III), physical disability (59 per cent higher risk), and depression score (41 per cent higher for tertile III than for tertile I).
These findings showed that in a proportion of the participants certain clinical signs, some of which could be better managed, were evident thus predicting the increased likelihood of both morbidity and mortality associated with ischemic stroke. |