Monthly incidence of stroke in rural Kansas

The relationship between the principal clinical diagnosis of cerebrovascular accident (CVA) and the month of admission to a regional medical center in Northwestern Kansas was investigated. The retrospective study identified 472 charts of subjects that had been admitted to a rural regional medical center in Northwestern Kansas over a six year period with the principal clinical diagnosis of stroke. Spearman's correlation coefficients indicated there was no significant relationship between the total number of admissions per month or by number of admissions in each classification of disease coding group. The study demonstrated a peak occurrence in July (n = 55) and the lowest occurrence in September (n = 25). These findings indicate that environmental factors characteristic of Northwestern Kansas may have no effect on the occurrence of stroke.