TY - JOUR
T1 - What stroke symptoms tell us
T2 - Association of risk factors and individual stroke symptoms in the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study
AU - Gao, Liyan
AU - Meschia, James F.
AU - Judd, Suzanne E.
AU - Muntner, Paul
AU - McClure, Leslie A.
AU - Howard, Virginia J.
AU - Rhodes, James D.
AU - Cushman, Mary
AU - Safford, Monika M.
AU - Soliman, Elsayed Z.
AU - Kleindorfer, Dawn O.
AU - Howard, George
N1 - Funding Information:
Supported by a cooperative agreement U01 NS041588 from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke , National Institutes of Health , and Department of Health and Human Services . The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke or the National Institutes of Health. Representatives of the funding agency have been involved in the review of the manuscript but not directly involved in the collection, management, analysis or interpretation of the data.
PY - 2012/7
Y1 - 2012/7
N2 - Background: Stroke symptoms are common among people without a history of stroke or transient ischemic attack; however, it is unknown if particular attention should be focused on specific symptoms for subgroups of patients. Methods: Using baseline data from 26,792 REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) participants without a history of transient ischemic attack or stroke, we assessed the association between age, sex, race, current smoking, hypertension, and diabetes and the 6 stroke symptoms in the Questionnaire for Verifying Stroke-Free Status. Results: The mean age of participants was 64.4 ± 9.4 years, 40.7% were black, and 55.2% were women. After multivariable adjustment, older persons more often reported an inability to understand (odds ratio [OR] 1.16 per 10 years older age; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.07-1.25) and unilateral vision loss (OR 1.09; 95% CI 1.01-1.18) and less often reported numbness (OR 0.83; 95% CI 0.79-0.87) and weakness (OR 0.85; 95% CI 0.80-0.90). Women reported difficulty communicating more often than men (OR 1.36; 95% CI 1.19-1.56). The OR for blacks compared to whites for each of the 6 stroke symptoms was increased, markedly so for unilateral numbness (OR 1.97; 95% CI 1.81-2.16), unilateral weakness (OR 1.96; 95% CI 1.76-2.18), and inability to understand (OR 1.87; 95% CI 1.61-2.18). Current smoking, hypertension, and diabetes were associated with higher ORs for each stroke symptom. Conclusions: The association of risk factors with 6 individual stroke symptoms studied was not uniform, suggesting the need to emphasize individual stroke symptoms in stroke awareness campaigns when targeting populations defined by risk.
AB - Background: Stroke symptoms are common among people without a history of stroke or transient ischemic attack; however, it is unknown if particular attention should be focused on specific symptoms for subgroups of patients. Methods: Using baseline data from 26,792 REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) participants without a history of transient ischemic attack or stroke, we assessed the association between age, sex, race, current smoking, hypertension, and diabetes and the 6 stroke symptoms in the Questionnaire for Verifying Stroke-Free Status. Results: The mean age of participants was 64.4 ± 9.4 years, 40.7% were black, and 55.2% were women. After multivariable adjustment, older persons more often reported an inability to understand (odds ratio [OR] 1.16 per 10 years older age; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.07-1.25) and unilateral vision loss (OR 1.09; 95% CI 1.01-1.18) and less often reported numbness (OR 0.83; 95% CI 0.79-0.87) and weakness (OR 0.85; 95% CI 0.80-0.90). Women reported difficulty communicating more often than men (OR 1.36; 95% CI 1.19-1.56). The OR for blacks compared to whites for each of the 6 stroke symptoms was increased, markedly so for unilateral numbness (OR 1.97; 95% CI 1.81-2.16), unilateral weakness (OR 1.96; 95% CI 1.76-2.18), and inability to understand (OR 1.87; 95% CI 1.61-2.18). Current smoking, hypertension, and diabetes were associated with higher ORs for each stroke symptom. Conclusions: The association of risk factors with 6 individual stroke symptoms studied was not uniform, suggesting the need to emphasize individual stroke symptoms in stroke awareness campaigns when targeting populations defined by risk.
KW - Individual stroke symptoms
KW - risk factors
KW - stroke symptoms
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84862849193&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84862849193&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2012.04.009
DO - 10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2012.04.009
M3 - Article
C2 - 22726606
AN - SCOPUS:84862849193
SN - 1052-3057
VL - 21
SP - 411
EP - 416
JO - Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases
JF - Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases
IS - 5
ER -