The incidence and survival of stroke patients in a defined community

A register of strokes in South East Kent was compiled over a period of 30 months. In a population of 248 000 the register of 1267 strokes indicated a crude annual incidence of 2.04/1000, and an annual incidence adjusted to the population structure of England and Wales of 1.66/1000. For the purposes of a comparative study of stroke management in 1978 and 1979 a register of patients with hemiplegia surviving 24 hours totalled 855 cases, of which 655 (77%) were admitted to hospital and 200 remained in the care of general practitioners. Follow-up was completed in 811 hemiplegic cases; 517 (63%) survived two weeks; and 271 (33%) survived one year. Comparisons are made with five recently published stroke registers in Europe. A higher incidence among males than females over age 54 is commonly observed. Survival of one-third of hemiplegic patients to one year from onset is lower than in other reported registers.