title: Long-term outcome after stroke in Belarus: the Grodno stroke study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Data concerning the long-term prognosis after stroke in low-income and middle-income countries are limited. We aimed to establish survival and dependency at 5 years after a first-ever-in-a-lifetime stroke in Grodno, Belarus.
  
  
  METHODS
  All residents of Grodno with a suspected acute stroke were registered prospectively and assessed over a period of 12 months in 2001. Patients were followed-up prospectively at 3 and 12 months, and then annually up to 5 years after the index event.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 671 cases of first-ever-in-a-lifetime stroke, and follow-up data after 5 years were available for 653 of these patients (97.3%); 18 people (2.7%) were lost to follow-up. One hundred ninety patients (29.1%) died during the first 28 days of stroke. The case fatality rate at 3 months was 32.2% (210/653), at 12 months it was 37.4% (244/653), and at 5 years it was 58.8% (384/653). Of the 269 survivors at 5 years, 130 (48.3%) were independent (modified Rankin score, 0-2), and 139 (51.7%) were disabled (modified Rankin score, ≥3). At 5 years, the cumulative risk of death or disability after first-ever-in-a-lifetime stroke was 80.1% (523/653).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Stroke in Belarus is associated with a very high risk of death or dependency at 5 years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Grodno State Medical University, Gorkogo Str, 80, 230009 Grodno, Belarus. s_kulesh@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Sergey D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Kulesh
authors.forename: Tatsiana M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Kastsinevich
authors.forename: Liudmila A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Kliatskova
authors.forename: Maryia E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Sauchanka
authors.forename: Nina A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Filina
authors.forename: Mechyslovas S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Shumskas
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schwab
authors.forename: Max J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hilz
authors.forename: Peter L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Kolominsky-Rabas
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012042:Registries; D002094:Republic of Belarus / Q000453:epidemiology; D020521:Stroke / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy*; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends; D013997:Time Factors