Low incidence of stroke in southern Italy: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Although a lower incidence of stroke has been observed in the Mediterranean area compared to other European countries, this is based on only a few studies. We sought to determine the incidence and 28-day case-fatality of stroke through a population-based stroke register in a rural area in Southern Italy, characterized by a stroke unit in the referral hospital.

METHODS

We established a multisource prospective population-based register in a well defined geographic area of 38 735 inhabitants in Puglia, Southern Italy. We identified all subjects in the study area with a first-ever stroke between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2002.

RESULTS

We identified 127 first-ever strokes (77 males, 50 females) during the two-year study period. Hospitalization was 95%: 92 cases (72.4%) were cerebral infarction, 24 (18.9%) intracerebral hemorrhage, 3 (2.4%) subarachnoid hemorrhage, and 8 (6.3%) were unclassifiable strokes. The overall crude annual incidence was 1.6 per 1000 (95%CI: 1.4 to 1.9), 2.0 for males (95% CI:1.6 to 2.5), and 1.3 for females (95% CI:0.9 to 1.6). The incidence rates standardized to the 2001 European and world populations were respectively 1.5 (2.0 for males and 1.3 for females) and 0.8 (0.9 for males and 0.6 for females). Incidence rates progressively increased with age in both sexes, reaching their peak at 85 years or more (21.4/1000 overall, 35.0 for men and 13.4 for women). The 28-day case-fatality was 18.1%.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study supports previous findings of lower incidence of stroke in the Mediterranean area, whereas the case-fatality in our study was lower than in previous studies from Italy. Further studies are needed to determine the role of prompt referral and stroke units on prognosis in population-based setting.