Comparative study of risk factors in young adults and elderly stroke patients in Sudan

Background: Stroke in Africa is considered as a leading cause of death and disability especially when it occurs in young adults (15-45 years). This study aims to compare stroke in young Sudanese adults and elderly patients regarding imaging finding, the pattern of presentation, investigations and the associated risk factors. Methods: This is an observational cross-sectional multicenter hospital-based study. The study was conducted in 6 major hospitals in Khartoum state, Sudan. All patients of stroke were seen during the study period that extended to about 6 months. Data was collected from 405 patients using data which was collected either from patients directly, co-patients or from the medical records. P-value of less than 0.05 is considered statistically significant. Results: Young patients (<45 years) constitute about 30% of all cases of stroke. In the young group, 56.4% were males; in those who are above 45 males were about 59.3%. The number of patients aged above 45 years was more than other age groups. Most of the patients in both age groups presented with motor and other neurological manifestations. Infarction occurred in 72% of young patients and 75% of the elderly. Less than 10% of patients were treated for a specific underline cause. Conclusion: Infarction is common in young age group almost approaching the same percentage of elderly patients. The clinical pattern is similar in both age groups with a mild tendency of the young to present without motor symptoms compared to the elderly. Arterial hypertension was the dominant risk factor among both young adults and the elderly population followed by smoking. Most patients were just treated supportively and almost half of them were left with disabling neurological deficit.