Prevalence of Recurrent Stroke among a Rehabilitation Cohort in Nigeria

A recurrent stroke increases the rates of mortality and morbidity after an initial stroke. There is, however, a dearth of data on the prevalence of recurrent stroke in Nigeria.

A secondary analysis of the data obtained from 100 stroke survivors undergoing physiotherapy at 2 health facilities in Nigeria was carried out to document the prevalence of recurrent stroke. The association between recurrent stroke and selected socio-demographic and clinical factors of the participants was explored using logistic regression analysis.

Thirty-two (32%) participants had had a recurrent stroke. Employment status and educational level were significantly associated with recurrent stroke. The outcome of the logistic regression analysis further showed that participants who were employed (OR = 0.08; P<0.001; 95% CI = 0.02-0.32) and who had no formal education (OR = 0.22; P = 0.03; 95% CI = 0.05-0.87) were significantly less likely to present with recurrent stroke compared to the unemployed participants and those who had tertiary educational qualification, respectively.

Approximately 1 in 3 stroke survivors undergoing rehabilitation had experienced stroke recurrence. The finding of this study buttresses the urgent need to emphasize and aggressively pursue secondary stroke prevention. Further studies are, however, required to explore those potentially modifiable factors that are associated with recurrent stroke, and having more representative samples.