Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Apr;27(4):287-95.
doi: 10.1007/s10654-012-9673-y. Epub 2012 Mar 17.

Trends in stroke incidence rates and stroke risk factors in Rotterdam, the Netherlands from 1990 to 2008

Renske G Wieberdink  1 , M Arfan Ikram, Albert Hofman, Peter J Koudstaal, Monique M B Breteler
Affiliations

Trends in stroke incidence rates and stroke risk factors in Rotterdam, the Netherlands from 1990 to 2008

Renske G Wieberdink et al. Eur J Epidemiol. 2012 Apr.

Abstract

Stroke incidence rates have decreased in developed countries over the past 40 years, but trends vary across populations. We investigated whether age-and-sex-specific stroke incidence rates and associated risk factors as well as preventive medication use have changed in Rotterdam in the Netherlands during the last two decades. The study was part of the Rotterdam Study, a large population-based cohort study among elderly people. Participants were 10,994 men and women aged 55-94 years who were stroke-free at baseline. Trends were calculated by comparing the 1990 subcohort (n=7516; baseline 1990-1993) with the 2000 subcohort (n=2883; baseline 2000-2001). Poisson regression was used to calculate incidence rates and incidence rate ratios in age-and-sex-specific strata. We further compared the prevalence of stroke risk factors and preventive medication use in the two subcohorts. In the 1990 subcohort 467 strokes occurred during 45,428 person years; in the 2000 subcohort 115 strokes occurred in 18,356 person years. Comparing the subcohorts, incidence rates decreased by 34% in men, but remained unchanged in women. Blood pressure levels increased between 1990 and 2000, whereas the proportion of current cigarette smokers decreased in men, but not in women. There was a strong increase in medication use for treatment of stroke risk factors across all age categories in both sexes. Our findings suggest that in Rotterdam between 1990 and 2008 stroke incidence rates have decreased in men but not in women.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Age-and-sex-specific Kaplan–Meier curves for the stroke-free survival of the 1990 versus the 2000 subcohort
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mathers CD, Loncar D. Projections of global mortality and burden of disease from 2002 to 2030. PLoS Med. 2006;3(11):e442. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0030442. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kunst AE, Amiri M, Janssen F. The decline in stroke mortality: exploration of future trends in 7 Western European countries. Stroke. 2011;42(8):2126–2130. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.110.599712. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Feigin VL, Lawes CM, Bennett DA, Barker-Collo SL, Parag V. Worldwide stroke incidence and early case fatality reported in 56 population-based studies: a systematic review. Lancet Neurol. 2009;8(4):355–369. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(09)70025-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Johnston SC, Mendis S, Mathers CD. Global variation in stroke burden and mortality: estimates from monitoring, surveillance, and modelling. Lancet Neurol. 2009;8(4):345–354. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(09)70023-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Straus SE, Majumdar SR, McAlister FA. New evidence for stroke prevention: scientific review. JAMA. 2002;288(11):1388–1395. doi: 10.1001/jama.288.11.1388. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances