title: Prevalence of stroke above forty years.
abstract: Number of elderly persons gradually increased in Bangladesh due to improved health awareness and health care. Age is the single most important risk factor for stroke. This study aims at finding the prevalence of stroke in a Bangladeshi population aged forty years and above. The cases of stroke were ascertained in two phases of door-to-door survey. In phase-I, trained interviewers performed face-to-face interview with subjects for the detection stroke cases using the World Health Organization (WHO) screening protocol for neurological diseases. In phase-II, subjects suspected to have a stroke underwent a clinical evaluation for diagnosis or exclusion of stroke by a neurological team. The study involved 15627 participants aged 40 years and above. A total of 47 participants found to have stroke, expressing an overall prevalence rate of 3.00 per 1000 (95% CI 0.95 to 2.45). Prevalence of stroke were 2.0, 3.0, 2.0, 10.0, and 10.0 per 1000 within age groups of 40-49 years, 50-59 years, 60-69 years, 70-79 years and 80 years and above age group respectively. Prevalence of stroke in people with age range 70-79 years compared to 40-49 years age range is 4.988 (95% CI 2.309 to 10.77) times and people with age range ≥80 years compared to 40-49 years age range is 4.798 (95% CI 1.597 to14.416) times. Prevalence was higher among men in comparison with women. The male: female ratio is 3.44:2.41 per 1000 respectively. Bangladeshi male populations in rural areas are found to have stroke more than urban people. A large community based study should be undertaken to further confirm the result of this present study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Q D
authors.initials: QD
authors.lastname: Mohammad
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Habib
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hoque
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Alam
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Haque
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hossain
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.forename: S U
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001459:Bangladesh / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology*