Stroke in Maputo Central Hospital, Mozambique: A crosssectional study 2014-16

Stroke is currently recognized as a major public health problem throughout the world, including in low income countries. The prevalence of hypertension (the major known risk factor for stroke) in Mozambique increased from 33.1% in 2005 to 38.9% in 2014/2015, although awareness remained at very low levels (15%). The aim of this study is to characterize the clinical pattern of stroke in the Department of Medicine (DM) of the Maputo Central Hospital (MCH) A cross-sectional study was carried out in the DM of MCH. Using systematic probabilistic sampling, clinical records were used to analyze data for the period 2014–16 Of the 249 clinical records, 54.6% (95% CI: 48.4 – 60.8) were female. The mean age was 61.41 years ± 13.48 SD. Around 94% was an acute stroke event, and 90% was first episode. Forty percent did not receive a CT scan for confirmation. Of the 149 CT scanned patients, 54.4% (95% CI: 46.4 – 62.4) were ischaemic stroke. The area of middle cerebral artery was affected in 75.2% of the CT scanned patients. The most common co-morbidity associated was hypertension (85.9%). The mean length of hospital stay was 6.03 days ± 4.60 SD, with a case-fatality of 25.7% (95% CI: 20.3 – 31.1). Stroke associated with hypertension is probably increasing in MCH, mostly likely due to an increase in hypertension prevalence and lack of awareness. Efforts for CT scan for all first episode of stroke should be emphasized by the DM managers