Demographic information and risk factors of stroke patients younger than 65 years old

Abstract

Objective: The main objective of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of risk factors for and demographics of patients younger than 65 years old with stroke. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study took into consideration all patients younger than 65 years old who were admitted to the emergency department from 2016 to 2018. Some significant criteria such as age, sex, type of stroke, stroke risk factors, and modified Ranking Scale (mRS) were extracted from patients’ medical records. Based on their age, these patients were divided into three groups: younger than 35 years old (Group A), between 35-50 years old (Group B), and older than 50 years old (Group C). Data analysis was carried out using IBM® SPSS® Statistics 20.0 software. Results: A total of 392 patients with stroke were included in this study. Groups A, B, and C included 31, 124, and 237 patients, respectively. Among them, 313 patients (79.84%) were admitted to the hospital in cold seasons, while 73 patients (18.6%) had no symptoms related to stroke at the time of admission. The most common adjustable risk factor among the patients was hypertension (HTN) with a frequency of 230 (58.7%). Of note, the frequency of HTN, diabetes, atrial fibrillation (AF), oral contraceptive pill (OCP) consumption, and coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients was significantly different among these three groups. Conclusion: According to the findings of the present study, the prevalence rate of stroke probably varies for male and female (gender) in the studied groups, which is significantly correlated with age. Among the adjustable risk factors for stroke, HTN, diabetes, AF, OCP consumption, and CAD are significantly correlated with the age.