Comparison of Sub-Types and Severity of Ischemic Stroke among Both Genders

Abstract

Background: It has been noted that there is an increased prevalence and serious clinical implications of stroke in women. However, local studies focused on stroke among female gender are still scarce. Aim: To find frequency of female patients with ischemic stroke and to compare the sub-types of ischemic stroke, mean NIHSS score and mean MRS scores among both genders. Methodology: This descriptive case series was conducted in indoor and outdoor department of Neurology at Mayo Hospital, Lahore for six months [Feb 6, 2018 till August 6, 2018]. After taking demographics and clinical characteristics of patients, the severity of stroke was taken using National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) at admission in hospital. The functional outcome was measured using Modified Rankin Scale (MRS). Subtype of acute ischemic stroke was assigned using Oxfordshire classification for acute ischemic stroke. All data was taken on a structured proforma and was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 21. Results: The mean age of cases was 53.58 ± 9.42 years with 73(60.83%) male and 47(39.17%) female cases. Among TACS, there were 15(50%) female cases whereas 9(34.6%) female case were found in PACS and 10(33.3%) female cases were found in LACS. The frequency of gender in all subtypes was statistically same in both groups, p-value > 0.05. The mean modified Rankin scale in male and female cases was 2.93 ± 1.58 and 4.30 ±1.50 respectively with significantly higher mean MMR score in females than male cases, p-value < 0.05. Conclusion: This study concludes that females make up a considerable percentage of patients with ischemic stroke. Though, no statistically significant difference could be found in terms of subtypes of ischemic stroke, the mean NIHSS score and mean MRS were statistically higher among females compared to male cases. Keywords: Stroke, subtypes, severity, ischemia, gender difference, NIHSS, MRS