The effect of an overall healthy lifestyle on early-onset stroke: a cross-sectional study

The impact of an overall healthy lifestyle on early-onset stroke is still unclear. Our study thus aimed to investigate the association of overall healthy lifestyle on early-onset stroke in Chinese hospitalized stroke patients.

This retrospective study included 821 hospitalized stroke patients from the First People's Hospital of Changzhou. An overall healthy lifestyle was defined as the presence of more than 2 of the following items: healthy diet, no smoking, normal body mass index (BMI <24 kg/m2 ), engaging in moderate to high physical activity (≥3 times/week, and ≥30 minutes each time). Early-onset stroke was defined as a stroke first occurring at 50 years old or younger.

Among all participants, there were 98 early-onset stroke patients and 723 late-onset stroke patients. Early-onset patients had a lower prevalence of overall healthy lifestyles than that of late-onset patients (P<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression revealed that an overall healthy lifestyle significantly reduced the risk of early-onset stroke. In reference to those without an overall healthy lifestyle, the multivariate-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for early-onset stroke among participants with an overall healthy lifestyle was 0.27 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.07-0.98].

In Chinese stroke patients, a healthy lifestyle was significantly associated with early-onset stroke. Individuals who were adhering to an overall healthy lifestyle had a lower risk of early-onset stroke compared to those who were not.