Frequency of Atrial Fibrillation in Patients with Ischemic Stroke at a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of atrial fibrillation in patients with ischemic stroke at a tertiary care hospital. Study design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Department of Medicine, Nishtar Hospital, Multan. Material and methods: All the cases of ischemic stroke (171), fulfilling inclusion criteria was recruited from indoor and outdoor of Department of General Medicine, Nishtar Hospital Multan from May 2015 to June 2017. These patients were investigated for the presence of atrial fibrillation, diabetes, hypertension, smoking and obesity and data was analyzed by SPSS version 18. Results: A total of 171 patients with ischemic stroke were taken. Of these 171 patients, 112 (65.5%) were male patients while 59 (34.5%) were female patients. Mean age of our patients was 58.32 ± 12.06 years, ranging from 41 to 81 years while 54 (31.6%) were aged up to 50 years and 119 (69.6%) were aged more than 50 years. Of these 171 patients, 52 (30.4%) were from rural and 119 (69.6%) from urban areas, 87 (50.9%) belonged to poor families and 84 (49.1%) belonged to middle income families. Sixty-six (38.6%) were diabetic and 106 (62%) were hypertensive. Mean body mass index was 25.39 ± 3.81 kg/m² with obesity was present in 46 (26.9%) while 66 (38.6%) were smokers and all smokers were male patients. Atrial fibrillation was noted in 72 (42.1%) in ischemic stroke patients. Conclusion: Frequency of atrial fibrillation was high in our study among patients with ischemic stroke. Atrial fibrillation was significantly associated with male gender, smoking. diabetes, hypertension and obesity.

Keywords: Ischemic stroke, atrial fibrillation, risk factors.