Stroke Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Stroke, including details on treatment, recovery, rehabilitation, signs, symptoms. | ||||||||
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The evolution of stroke in Quebec: a 15-year perspective.Mayo NE, Nadeau L, Daskalopoulou SS, Côté R Division of Clinical Epidemiology, McGill University Health Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. nancy.mayo@mcgill.ca OBJECTIVE: To estimate changes in rates of cerebral infarction and intracerebral hemorrhage, comorbidity profile, and case fatality rates in Quebec over 15 years. METHODS: A population-based admission-to-discharge cohort study was conducted, selecting first stroke events from hospital discharge data (MedEcho) from 1988 to 2002. RESULTS: In this study (involving 101,831 persons with cerebral infarctions and 11,215 persons with intracerebral hemorrhages), there was a downturn in the rates of cerebral infarction over 15 years, especially during the last 5 years (32.5% decline for men and 25.5% for women). A concomitant increase in rates of intracerebral hemorrhage, 28% increase for men (2%/year) and 22% for women (1.6%/year), was also noted. Although age and comorbidity of the population increased, case fatality decreased over time. Age and type of stroke were strong predictors for early (< or =7 days) and later (8 to 30 days) case fatality, whereas comorbidity was important only for later death. In-hospital bed stay declined dramatically over time for all discharge destinations. CONCLUSIONS: A significant decrease in rates of cerebral infarction and a rise in rates of intracerebral hemorrhage were noted in Quebec over 15 years. Age and comorbidity of the population increased. Although stroke is increasingly a condition of the elderly, ill population, case fatality and in-hospital bed stay declined over time. Published 3 April 2007 in Neurology, 68(14): 1122-7.
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