Risk factor profile in Chinese-Australian stroke patients living in Sydney

To examine and compare stroke risk factors and their management in stroke patients of Chinese descent versus English-speaking background (ESB)-Australian patients.

Cohort study. Fifty-one Chinese-Australians and 119 ESB-Australians who were admitted to hospitals within Sydney metropolitan area with a recent acute ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke were recruited.

Chinese-Australian patients tended to have a favourable smoking (0% current smokers vs 15%, P = 0.036) and drinking (5% current medium/heavy drinkers vs 17%, P = 0.005) pattern compared with the Australian patients. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus was higher in Chinese-Australians (31% vs 10%, P = 0.003). The management of hypertension and atrial fibrillation (AF) in Chinese-Australians was suboptimal (19% untreated hypertension vs 8%, P = 0.102; 78% AF not on Warfarin vs 51%, P = 0.264).

The findings of this study suggest that targeting specific stroke prevention strategies may be useful for Chinese-Australians. Larger-scale studies need to be conducted to confirm these findings.