title: Risk factor profile in Chinese-Australian stroke patients living in Sydney.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine and compare stroke risk factors and their management in stroke patients of Chinese descent versus English-speaking background (ESB)-Australian patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cohort study. Fifty-one Chinese-Australians and 119 ESB-Australians who were admitted to hospitals within Sydney metropolitan area with a recent acute ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke were recruited.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Chinese-Australian patients tended to have a favourable smoking (0% current smokers vs 15%, P = 0.036) and drinking (5% current medium/heavy drinkers vs 17%, P = 0.005) pattern compared with the Australian patients. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus was higher in Chinese-Australians (31% vs 10%, P = 0.003). The management of hypertension and atrial fibrillation (AF) in Chinese-Australians was suboptimal (19% untreated hypertension vs 8%, P = 0.102; 78% AF not on Warfarin vs 51%, P = 0.264).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings of this study suggest that targeting specific stroke prevention strategies may be useful for Chinese-Australians. Larger-scale studies need to be conducted to confirm these findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Aged Care and Rehabilitation, Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital, Bankstown, New South Wales, Australia. qing.shen@swsahs.nsw.gov.au
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cordato
authors.forename: Daniel K Y
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Jerome
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ip
authors.forename: Jude
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ng
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000208:ethnology; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000208:ethnology / Q000628:therapy; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000208:ethnology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000208:ethnology / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology; D020521:Stroke / Q000208:ethnology*; D014504:Urban Health / Q000208:ethnology