Stroke subtypes and risk factors in the Jaffna district – A hospital based study

Objective: To determine the stroke subtypes and risk factors in the Jaffna district and to determine if it differed from the rest of Sri Lanka.

Methods: A hospital based prospective, cross sectional study was carried out in 448 stroke patients admitted to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital, from December 2014 to August 2015. Diagnosis of stroke was made according to the WHO definition and confirmed by a CT brain. The patients were investigated for conventional risk factors. The data was statistically analyzed using SPSS.

Results: There were a total of 448 cases included in the study of which 226 (50.45%) were males and 222 (49.55%) were females. The mean age of the patients was 66.0 ± 12.23 for males and 67.25 ± 12.12 for females. Stroke subtypes showed preponderance for ischaemic strokes (84.15%). Hypertension was the commonest risk factor (56%) and the other risk factors were ranked as follows; past history of stroke (39.4%), smoking (30.8%), diabetes mellitus (26.05%), dyslipdaemia (15.8%), family history of stroke (12.3%) and ischaemic heart disease (11.9%).

Conclusions: Ischaemic stroke was the commonest subtype and lacunar stroke was the commonest presentation according to the OCSP classification. Hypertension was the commonest risk factor. Preventive strategies to detect hypertension and diabetes early and public awareness of the ill effects of smoking should contribute significantly in the reduction of stroke burden.