A survey from Turkey and Iran on comparison of risk factors and etiology in ischemic stroke

Abstract

Although various advancements have been made to control incidence of stroke, the overall incidence, and the rate of morbidity of stroke, still increase in developing countries.^1-3 In last years, the epidemiologic studies on ischemic stroke have been widely increased in Turkey and Iran.^1-3 These two countries are located in similar geography with a similar historical background, though the environmental factors and lifestyle of general population in these two neighboring countries show peculiar differences. In this study, we aimed to make a comparison between data from Turkey and from Iran, in terms of etiologies and risk factors of ischemic stroke, to reveal region-related similarities or country-related differences.

We reviewed the files of 2534 patients with ischemic stroke followed up for 15 years in our Cerebrovascular Outpatient Clinics in Faculty of Neurology, Istanbul University (Cerrahpasa), Istanbul, Turkey. Data collection in Iran was made from 2314 patients with ischemic stroke followed up for 6 years in Stroke Unit, Neurosciences Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. In the etiological classification, both centers used the Trial of ORG 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST) criteria⁴ upon clinical data, neurological examinations findings, and neuroimaging characteristics. Risk factors were recorded in detail, the statistical analyses were performed with the SPSS software (version 21, IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA). Statistical tests used in the analysis were as χ² or Fisher’s test for independent categorical variables, Student’s t test for normally distributed independent numerical variables, and Mann-Whitney U for not normally distributed independent numerical variables. The effects of covariates and independent variables were investigated by logistic regression.