Association Between the Subtypes of Stroke and the Various Risk Factors of Cerebrovascular Accidents: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: Stroke is a common heterogeneous disease classified into two subtypes: ischemic and hemorrhagic.Many risk factors have been associated with stroke, and the most well-known is hypertension. Althoughthe relation between stroke and these risk factors has been emphasized before, there is inconclusiveevidence about the relation between the different risk factors and the subtypes of stroke. The present studyaims to fill this gap.Materials and Methods: In the present retrospective, cross-sectional study, 827 patients with diagnosedstroke were included. Demographic data and the acquired risk factors were determined using pre-designedquestionnaires. Statistical analysis was conducted using chi-square test, Student t-test, and Pearson correlationcoefficient.Results: Among the included 827 patients, 432 (52.2%) were men and 395 (47.8%) were women. Themean±standard deviation of age was 68.41±12.46 y in men and 67.89±11.85 y in women, respectively, andthe difference was not significant. Of all the patients, 672 had ischemic strokes and 155 had hemorrhagicstrokes. The most common risk factor in the patients was hypertension with a prevalence of 66.7%. Of allthe risk factors, only hypertension, atrial fibrillation (AF), age, and a positive family history were significantlyrelated to a subtype of stroke.Conclusion: Knowing that the prevalence of hypertension, AF, age, and positive family history are significantlydifferent between the two subtypes, the patients having these risk factors can be entered into more specifiedpublic health measures, which puts more emphasis on the subtype that they are more prone to.