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. 2021 Jul 29;16(7):e0254440.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254440. eCollection 2021.

Prevalence of stroke survival in rural communities living in northern Peru

Luz M Moyano  1 , Silvia M Montano  2 , Percy Vilchez Barreto  1 , Narcisa Reto  1 , Luis Larrauri  3 , Nicanor Mori  4 , Mario Cornejo-Olivas  1   5 , Erik Guevara-Silva  3 , Fernando Urizar  1 , Enrique Najar  6 , Ricardo Gamboa  1 , Cintya Azabache  1 , Raquel Herrer Ticse  1 , Lucia Bolivar-Herrada  1 , Alex Doud  7 , Peggy Martinez  8 , J Jaime Miranda  1   9 , Joseph R Zunt  6 , Hector H García  1 ; Cysticercosis Working Group for Peru
Affiliations

Prevalence of stroke survival in rural communities living in northern Peru

Luz M Moyano et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background and purpose: Stroke is the leading cause of neurological impairment in the South American Andean region. However, the epidemiology of stroke in the region has been poorly characterized.

Methods: We conducted a staged three-phase population-based study applying a validated eight-question neurological survey in 80 rural villages in Tumbes, northern Peru, then confirmed presence or absence of stroke through a neurologist's examination to estimate the prevalence of stroke.

Results: Our survey covered 90% of the population (22,278/24,854 individuals, mean age 30±21.28, 48.45% females), and prevalence of stroke was 7.05/1,000 inhabitants. After direct standardization to WHO's world standard population, adjusted prevalence of stroke was 6.94/1,000 inhabitants. Participants aged ≥85 years had higher stroke prevalence (>50/1000 inhabitants) compared to other stratified ages, and some unusual cases of stroke were found among individuals aged 25-34 years. The lowest age reported for a first stroke event was 16.8 years. High blood pressure (aPR 4.2 [2.7-6.4], p>0.001), and sedentary lifestyle (aPR 1.6 [1.0-2.6], p = 0.045) were more prevalent in people with stroke.

Conclusions: The age-standardized prevalence of stroke in this rural coastal Peruvian population was slightly higher than previously reported in studies from surrounding rural South American settings, but lower than in rural African and Asian regions. The death rate from stroke was much higher than in industrialized and middle-income countries.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Map of 80 rural communities in Tumbes involved in the study.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Study flowchart.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Prevalence of stroke and confidence interval stratified by age in 80 rural communities.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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