Vascular risk factors in patients with ischaemic stroke. Distribution according to age, sex and stroke subtype

Cardiovascular diseases are one of the leading health problems in developed countries. This term covers conditions such as coronary vascular disease, cerebrovascular diseases and peripheral vascular disease. Ischaemic cerebrovascular disease accounts for 80% of all cerebrovascular diseases. From a clinical point of view it is interesting to distinguish between modifiable and non-modifiable vascular risk factors. To analyse the prevalence of modifiable vascular risk factors and their different combinations in a case-control study on ischaemic cerebrovascular disease in the Spanish population, and also the differences in the distribution of the risk factors according to the type of stroke (TOAST classification), age and sex. The study was conducted on 308 patients with ischaemic stroke who were paired by age (+/- 5 years) and sex, with 307 controls with no prior history of thrombosis. The statistical analysis was performed using the software application SAS v. 9.1. The results suggest that the risk factors are subject to an adding effect, as well as pointing to the presence of a specific profile of these factors depending on the subtype of stroke that is developed. The addition of cardiovascular risk factors is associated with an increased risk of vascular events. The distribution of the modifiable vascular risk factors differs according to the type of stroke and the patient's sex and age.