Risk of Stroke Among Mexican Population: A Cross-Sectional Study Applying a Useful Tool from the WSO
Jorge Alejandro Arias Vega1, Aurelio Méndez Domínguez2, Pedro Gil Landeros3, María Fernanda Ortega Ibarra1, Diego Muñoz Mora1, Frida Quetzalli Montoya Delgado1, Oziel Leyva Dolores1, Paulina Jaime Flores1
1National Autonomous University of Mexico, Faculty of Medicine, 2Neurology, National Institute of Cardiology "Ignacio Chávez", 3Universidad Latinoamericana, Campus Cuernavaca
Objective:
To estimate the risk of stroke among adult population in Mexico City using a validated self-aplicable questionnaire and describe the findings obtained
Background:
Stroke represents a severe public health problem worldwide . Its presentation is associated with cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes and cardiac disease which are highly prevalent in latin-american countries. In 2014 the Stroke Risk-o-meter tool was published by WSO and validated in a cohort of 9501 subjects demonstrating its utility (Parmar et. al.
Design/Methods:
A group of 513 individuals were randomly evaluated using the Spanish version of the WSO Risk-o-Meter app. Informed consent was obtained. To eliminate interobserver variability 3 interviewers were properly trained to apply the questionnaire and data was gathered in an electronic form. Descriptive statistics were made and univariate analysis was made using Pearson correlation for the strongest risk factors identified.
Results:
Among our cohort 67.3% were female and 32.7% were male, the mean age was 36.7 with a standard deviation of 14.8, 40% had history of tobacco exposure, 63% had a sedentary lifestyle, and 40% had history of alcoholism. General risk of stroke was estimated to be 2.8% and 4.8% to 5 and 10 years respectively. A statistical significant value was obtained (=0,002) for tobacco exposure and female sex.
Conclusions:
Nowadays technological innovations such as the WSO Risk-o-Meter app represent an easy, feasible, highly accurate manner to evaluate the individual stroke risk. In a sample composed mainly of young subjects we identified female sex, tobacco exposure and sedentary lifestile as the strongest predictors for stroke. The fact that these risk factors are modifiable elucidates the importance of identifying them early in life in order to diminish the burden of stroke in latin-american countries. We make a call for action to governments in order to implement innovative strategies like this as public policies for prevention.
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