Pattern of Stroke Presentation in Patients Managed at a Regional Teaching Hospital Centre in Nigeria: A Five Year Retrospective Study

Abstract

Stroke or brain attack is the leading cause of death and neurological disability imposing emotional and financial burden on the family and society.  The objective of the study is to identify the pattern of stroke patients provided with care at a regional teaching hospital centres in North Eastern  Nigeria between January 2009 and December 2013. The methods used in this study are: In this retrospective survey, patients’ records at the  University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital were scrutinised and a total of 384 folders of patients with diagnosis of cerebrovascular disease admitted  between January 2009 and December 2013 were identified, retrieved and reviewed. Data obtained from the records include information on  sociodemographic characteristics of the patients, stroke type, side of affectation, type of muscle weakness, stroke related impairments such as  speech defect, blurred vision and cognitive deficit, and risk factors presented by patients. The results obtained were: This study showed that  ischaemic stroke was the most prevalent type (80.8%), 80.3% of the patients presented with hemiplegia and there were more males (64.1%) than  females (37.9%) with stroke during the period under review. Single survivors tend to present with haemorrhagic stroke than their married, widowed  and widower counterparts (p<0.01) and men tend to present with left hemispheric and right side affectation more frequently than their female  counterparts (p<0.05). Conclusively: In addition to providing insights into the provider identified problems suffered by stroke survivors, this study  also identified improvement needs in care documentation that warrants attention.