Cent Eur J Public Health 2005, 13(4):176-179

Lower Stroke Death Rates in Patients Receiving Blood Pressure Lowering Therapy Before the Onset of a Stroke

Devroey D.1,2, Van Casteren V.1, Buntinx F.3,4
1 Department of Epidemiology, Scientific Institute Public Health, Brussels, Belgium
2 Department of General Practice, University of Brussels, Belgium
3 Department of General Practice, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
4 Department of General Practice, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands

The objective of this study was to compare stroke death rates among patients with and without blood pressure lowering treatment before the onset of the stroke. During two consecutive years all patients with acute stroke were recorded by 178 Belgian general practitioners of the sentinel network. In total 511 patients with acute stroke were recorded. The death rate after one month was found significantly higher among the untreated patients (33%; n = 84) compared to those receiving blood pressure lowering treatment (23%; n = 61) (p = 0.007). Blood pressure lowering treatment before the onset of stroke had a beneficial effect on survival in a backward stepwise logistic regression (OR 0.38; 95% CI 0.20-0.72). In conclusion, stroke mortality is significantly lower among patients receiving blood pressure lowering treatment before the onset of stroke compared to those without blood pressure lowering treatment.

Keywords: stroke, mortality, incidence, sentinel surveillance, Belgium, cerebrovascular disease

Received: February 24, 2005; Revised: July 25, 2005; Accepted: July 25, 2005; Published: December 1, 2005  Show citation

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Devroey D, Van Casteren V, Buntinx F. Lower Stroke Death Rates in Patients Receiving Blood Pressure Lowering Therapy Before the Onset of a Stroke. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2005;13(4):176-179. PubMed PMID: 16419381.
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