Stroke prevalence in a medium-sized Swedish municipality

Many patients who have had stroke survive with functional disability for years. Stroke prevalence is a fundamental measure of the impact of stroke in society. Stroke prevalence has never been evaluated in Sweden.

In this study, we use a registry-based method, using three overlapping Swedish registers, namely, the Swedish Stroke Register (Riksstroke), the National Patient Register, and a primary healthcare-based patient register. Data were gathered from these registers and cross-checked with the population register as per December 31st, 2019, with respect to stroke survivors (ICD-10 I60-I69) living in Kumla (population 21,738), a municipality well representative of Sweden.

A total of 330 individuals with stroke were found, of which 42% were women. The mean age was 74.1 years in men and 75.1 years in women. 11.5% of the patients had more than one stroke. The mean duration since the first stroke was 8.3 years. The crude prevalence per 100,000 was 1754 in men, 1281 in women, and 1518 in both sexes. Adjusted to the European population, the ratio was 1570 per 100,000, and to the World population 936 per 100,000.

In spite of a declining stroke incidence in Sweden, the stroke prevalence in Kumla, Sweden, is relatively high. Comparisons with other studies indicate that a decline in prevalence may have occurred since the early 2000s. Modern registers can support data collection, but the index stroke may have occurred almost forty years back in time.