Stroke Mortality and Trends From 1990 to 2006 in 39 Countries From Europe and Central Asia: Implications for Control of High Blood Pressure

Apr 18, 2011
Font Size
A
A
A
Authors:
Redon J, Olsen MH, Cooper RS, et al.
Citation:
Eur Heart J 2011;Apr 12:[Epub ahead of print].
Summary By:
Hitinder S. Gurm, MBBS, FACC

Study Questions:

What are the trends in stroke mortality across Europe and Central Asia?

Methods:

The authors evaluated trends in national stroke mortality data from 39 countries. Countries were grouped as A (very low child and adult mortality), B (low adult and child mortality), and C (low child and high adult mortality; Belarus, Estonia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine). Total number of deaths by stroke and the age-, and sex-adjusted incidence rates were obtained and grouped according to these categories.

Results:

Higher rates of stroke mortality were observed moving from West to East and in countries in group B and C countries compared with countries belonging to group A. The highest rate of stroke mortality in men was observed in Bulgaria (267.6), and the lowest mortality rate was observed in Israel (45.1). The country with the highest stroke mortality rate for women was the Russian Federation (351.0), whereas the lowest rate was seen in Israel (51.6). A decrease in stroke mortality was observed in the group A countries during the period of study, while it had increased substantially in group B and to a lesser extent in group C.

Conclusions:

There is marked variation in stroke mortality and trends in stroke mortality across the 39 countries.

Perspective:

The study highlights the marked variation in burden of stroke across a large number of countries and corroborates earlier data that have demonstrated similar variations internationally (Sarti C, et al., Stroke 2000;31:1588-601). The decline in stroke mortality across most group A countries highlights the impact of preventive measures (especially optimal control of hypertension), and invokes the need for global strategies for treatment of hypertension.

Keywords: Stroke, Latvia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Russia, Europe, Hungary, Israel, Ukraine, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Republic of Belarus


< Back to Listings