TITLE:
Stroke: Medium and long-term mortality and associated factors in French-speaking West Africa, case of Benin
AUTHORS:
Dieu Donné Gnonlonfoun, Constant Adjien, Paul Macaire Ossou-Nguiet, Isaac Avlessi, Gérald Goudjinou, Octave Houannou, Jocelyn Acakpo, Dismand Houinato, Gilbert Dossou Avode
KEYWORDS:
Mortality; Stroke; Medium Term; Long Term; Cotonou
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of Neuroscience,
Vol.4 No.1,
February
11,
2014
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Stroke is
the leading cause of mortality and physical disability in sub-Saharan Africa.
Objective: Determining medium-term and long-term mortality for stroke and
identifying associated factors. Method: It consists in a cross-sectional,
prospective, descriptive and analytical study that was conducted from April 1
to August 31, 2013 in the Neurology Department of CNHU-HKM in Cotonou. It
involved patients who have known stroke for at least 6 months, and were all
admitted and discharged later on. The disease survivors were re-contacted and
examined again at home or at hospital. Then, the number of deceased was
systematically recorded with precision of death time-limit. Results: The
overall mortality rate was 29%. Mortality was higher with patients over 70
years with a frequency of 57.1%. The medium-term mortality rate was 25% against
4% for long-term. The average time-limit for death occurrence after the
vascular incident was 7 months ± 6.4 months. Prognostic factors of mortality
were: the age of the patient (IC95% = 7.73 [1.49 - 39.99], p = 0.015
), marital status (IC95% = 0.27 [0.08 to 0.94], p = 0.039 ) and the
presence of aphasia (IC95% = 5.52 [1.45 to 20.94 ], p = 0.012).
Conclusion: Stroke mortality still remains significant, even after the patients
have been discharged from hospital. A good psychological family support and
efficient aphasia coverage are essential for its reduction.