What stroke symptoms tell us: association of risk factors and individual stroke symptoms in the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study.
BACKGROUND
Stroke symptoms are common among people without a history of stroke or transient ischemic attack; however, it is unknown if particular attention should be focused on specific symptoms for subgroups of patients.


METHODS
Using baseline data from 26,792 REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) participants without a history of transient ischemic attack or stroke, we assessed the association between age, sex, race, current smoking, hypertension, and diabetes and the 6 stroke symptoms in the Questionnaire for Verifying Stroke-Free Status.


RESULTS
The mean age of participants was 64.4 ± 9.4 years, 40.7% were black, and 55.2% were women. After multivariable adjustment, older persons more often reported an inability to understand (odds ratio [OR] 1.16 per 10 years older age; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.07-1.25) and unilateral vision loss (OR 1.09; 95% CI 1.01-1.18) and less often reported numbness (OR 0.83; 95% CI 0.79-0.87) and weakness (OR 0.85; 95% CI 0.80-0.90). Women reported difficulty communicating more often than men (OR 1.36; 95% CI 1.19-1.56). The OR for blacks compared to whites for each of the 6 stroke symptoms was increased, markedly so for unilateral numbness (OR 1.97; 95% CI 1.81-2.16), unilateral weakness (OR 1.96; 95% CI 1.76-2.18), and inability to understand (OR 1.87; 95% CI 1.61-2.18). Current smoking, hypertension, and diabetes were associated with higher ORs for each stroke symptom.


CONCLUSIONS
The association of risk factors with 6 individual stroke symptoms studied was not uniform, suggesting the need to emphasize individual stroke symptoms in stroke awareness campaigns when targeting populations defined by risk.
Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294, USA.
Liyan
L
Gao
James F
JF
Meschia
Suzanne E
SE
Judd
Paul
P
Muntner
Leslie A
LA
McClure
Virginia J
VJ
Howard
James D
JD
Rhodes
Mary
M
Cushman
Monika M
MM
Safford
Elsayed Z
EZ
Soliman
Dawn O
DO
Kleindorfer
George
G
Howard
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D044469:Racial Groups; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires