Retrospective analysis of stroke and its risk factors at Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital

Stroke is a major public health burden worldwide and is responsible for a large proportion of disability; and ranks third in the causation of morbidity and mortality. This disease although regarded as a disease of old age, it is not uncommon in younger population in developing countries.. A retrospective study of cerebro-vascular accidents (stroke) managed at Department of Medicine, Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital during the period of 1st April 2000 to 31st March 2005 was done to study demographics and risk factors. Cases of TIA were not included in the final analysis of the data due to uncertainty of diagnosis and lack of imaging (CT scan). The collected data was analyzed using data analysis software SPSS (version 12). We identified 72 cases of stroke excluding TIA. The mean age at which patients in this study experienced their first ever stroke was 61.7 yrs (SD 14.9 yrs). The commonest presenting complaints in our study population were weakness of limbs (90.3%), slurring of speech (33.3%), altered mental status (29.8%), deviation of angle of mouth and headache (22.2%) each and urinary incontinence (13.9%). Vomiting, dizziness, fever, personality changes, seizure, tingling sensation of limbs were uncommon clinical presentation and were present in 15.28% of cases. Risk factors were smoking (58.3%), hypertension (47.2%), alcohol (41.4%), atrial fibrillation (12.5%) and diabetes mellitus (11.1%). To conclude, stroke in countries like Nepal is a public health problem. The clinical presentations and risk factors are in agreement with other studies. The low mean age of stroke patient reflects demographic feature of this region.