Burden of stroke in Indonesia

Abstract

Stroke is the leading cause of death among Indonesians above five years of age, comprising 15.4% of all deaths, age-gender-standardised death rate 99/100 000, and age-gender-standardised disability-adjusted life years lost 685/100 000. Stroke prevalence is 0.0017% in rural Indonesia, 0.022% in urban Indonesia, 0.5% among urban Jakarta adults, and 0.8% overall. Frequent risk factors include hypertension, smoking and hypercholesterolaemia. The mean age of stroke patients is 58.8 years. Subarachnoid haemorrhage is found in 1.4% of patients, intracerebral haemorrhage in 18.5%, and ischaemic stroke in 42.9%. Only city hospitals have neurology, neurosurgery and neuroimaging services. Indonesia has 40 stroke units. Commonly used medications for stroke are easily available. Hospital-based rehabilitative services are available in large hospitals. Traditional medicine is widely practiced. Efforts to combat stroke include education, more stroke units and rehabilitative services especially in the rural areas.