The 1996 Leicestershire Community Stroke & Ethnicity Study: differences and similarities between South Asian and white strokes.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the number of strokes in Leicestershire and investigate possible differences between South Asian and white patients.


METHODS
Prospective incidence sample survey.


METHODS
Leicestershire.


METHODS
Acute stroke cases occurring in registered populations of 12 'high Asian' and 11 'low Asian' general practices.


RESULTS
The age-specific incidence rates of stroke in Leicestershire were similar to those of the Oxford Community Stroke Project. South Asian patients were less likely to be living alone at home before their stroke and they tended to be younger than whites. However, only 12% of South Asian patients with a stroke were not admitted to hospital within 7 days of their stroke compared to 23% of white patients (chi2 = 3.24, d.f. = 1, P = 0.07). Only 21% of South Asian patients died within 28 days of their stroke compared to 33% of white patients (age-adjusted odds ratio = 0.37; 95% CI: 0.14-0.97).


CONCLUSIONS
Overlapping case-finding was crucial to finding all 'possible' strokes and this required close collaborative working between general practices, community health services, hospitals and the health authority. Relatively fewer South Asian patients were managed in the community in the first 7 days. Interestingly, South Asian patients were less likely than white patients to die within 28 days. This is an area worthy of further research.
Hsu
R T
RT
Leicestershire Health, Leicester, UK.
Ardron
M E
ME
Brooks
W
W
Cherry
D
D
Taub
N A
NA
Botha
J L
JL
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007194:India / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011159:Population Surveillance; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012494:Sampling Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D015996:Survival Rate; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People