title: COMPARISON OF HOSPITALIZED ACUTE STROKE PATIENTS' CHARACTERISTICS USING TWO LARGE CENTRAL-EASTERN EUROPEAN DATABASES.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the European region. In spite of a decreasing trend, stroke related mortality remains higher in Hungary and Romania when compared to the EU average. This might be due to higher incidence, increased severity or even less effective care.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study we used two large, hospital based databases from Targu Mures (Romania) and Debrecen (Hungary) to compare not only the demographic characteristics of stroke patients from these countries but also the risk factors, as well as stroke severity and short term outcome.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The gender related distribution of patients was similar to those found in the European Survey, whereas the mean age of patients at stroke onset was similar in the two countries but lower by four years. Although the length of hospital stay was significantly different in the two countries it was still much shorter (about half) than in most reports from western European countries. The overall fatality rate in both databases, regardless of gender was comparable to averages from Europe and other countries. In both countries we found a high number of risk factors, frequently overlapping. The prevalence of risk factors (hypertension, smoking, hyperlipidaemia) was higher than those reported in other countries, which can explain the high ratio of recurring stroke.
authors.forename: Károly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Orbán-Kis
authors.forename: Ildikó
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Szocs
authors.forename: Klára
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fekete
authors.forename: Lászlo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mihálka
authors.forename: László
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Csiba
authors.forename: Dániel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bereczki
authors.forename: Szabolcs
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Szatmári
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology; D016208:Databases, Factual; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary / Q000453:epidemiology; D006949:Hyperlipidemias / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D015994:Incidence; D007297:Inpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012383:Romania / Q000453:epidemiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality