Stroke risk factors in Bujumbura

Abstract

Relevance. Stroke is a public health problem, with over 90 % of cases worldwide attributable to a combination of individual clinical or behavioural risk factors, which are generally classified as non-modifiable and modifiable risk factors. The aim of this study was to determine the stroke risk factors prevalent among stroke patients in Bujumbura, the economic capital of Burundi. Materials and Methods. This was a descriptive and prospective study performed over a 6-month period from February to August 2020. 71 stroke patients who were hospitalized for a stroke confirmed by cerebral CT scan in the two teaching hospitals of Bujumbura were collected. Results and Discussion. Stroke risk factors were frequently found among stroke patients in Bujumbura. In fact, 91.55 % had at least one risk factor for stroke, with an average of 2.86 per patient. These factors are mainly cardiovascular (91.62 %), with hypertension accounting for the largest share (46.48 %), followed by regular alcohol consumption (33.80 %). Age was the most common non-modifiable risk factor in these patients, with 73.25 % aged over 50 and an average age of 59.87. There was a predominance of male patients, the sex ratio was 1.29. As in the literature, ischemic stroke predominated (69.01 %), while the recurrence rate was 14.6. Other risk factors that were found to be significant were sedentary lifestyle (26.76 %), diabetes (16.90 %), obesity (8.45 %) and smoking (5.63 %). The positive HIV/AIDS seroprevalence rate was 8.5 %, whereas the national prevalence rate was 2.97 %. Conclusion. Risk factors for stroke are found in the large majority of patients in Bujumbura. They are diverse, but are mainly dominated by cardiovascular pathologies, in particular hypertension.

Keywords

• stroke
• risk factor
• hypertension