POTENTIAL RISK FACTORS OF STROKE: A COMMUNITY-BASED, CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY FROM SINDH PROVINCE OF PAKISTAN

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of potential risk factors of stroke among people attending the stroke (Falij) screening camps in Sindh provinceof Pakistan. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the 12 rural and urban areas of Sindh through stroke screening camps, during the period of six months in 2018. A total of 1,480 consecutive persons18 years or above who had no prior stroke were enrolled. The questionnaire comprised of demographic information, stroke related risk factors, personal history, family history of stroke and investigations did during the camp. Stroke-related risk was categorized as low-risk (1-2 risk factors), moderate-risk (3 risk factors) and high-risk (>= 4 risk factors). Out of 1,480 persons screened, twenty-eight persons were excluded due to missing information and final sample size was 1,452. Statistical analysis was performed on SPSS version-21. RESULTS: Out of 1,452 subjects, 802 (55.2%) were males and 650 (44.8%) were females. Mean age was 46.7 +/- 13.8 years and majority (n=1026; 70.6%) were aging >40 years.Mean BMI was 29.2 +/- 14.4. Low-, moderate- and high-risk groups included 691 (47.6%), 614 (42.3%) & 147 (10.1%) cases respectively. Common potential risk factors of stroke were hypertension (n=722; 49.8%), diabetes mellitus (n=518; 35.7%), dyslipidemia (n=290; 19.97%) and smoking (n=288; 19.8%). CONCLUSION: Common potential risk factors of stroke in our study are hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia and smoking. More than half of the participants have potentially moderate- and high-risk of stroke. Robust population-based studies are needed to study the epidemiology of stroke and its risk factors in Pakistan.