Prevalence of Stroke in Systolic Heart Failure

Abstract Background Heart disease is a major independent risk factor for stroke, ranking third after age and hypertension. Heart failure (HF) patient constitutes an important subgroup of patients with stroke, because of their poor outcome and high rates of mortality and stroke recurrence. We examined the prevalence of stroke in patients with heart failure from 3 different geographic regions. Methods and Results We compared the prevalence of self-reported history of stroke in participants with systolic HF from 3 different geographic regions (Houma, LA; Miami, FL; and Tbilisi, Georgia, Eastern Europe). We examined the prevalence of stroke/adjusting for patient demographic and health characteristics. Stroke prevalence was reported by 79 (7.8%) of 1017 participants from Louisiana, 51 (9.2%) of 556 participants from Florida, and 5 (1.3%) of 383 participants from Georgia. After multivariable adjustment, the prevalence of stroke was significantly lower in Georgia compared to Florida and Louisiana sites. Patients on β-blocker medication were 3.58 times (95% CI 1.96-6.55) more likely to report stroke compared to those without β-blockers (×2 = 19.5, P ≤ .0001). There were significantly fewer participants on β-blockers from Georgia (7%) compared to participants from Florida (87%) and Louisiana (94%; (×2 = 24.3, P