PREVALENCE OF STROKE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS USING ANTIHYPERTENSIVE MEDICATIONS AT UNIVERSITY OF GONDAR REFERRAL HOSPITAL, NORTH WEST ETHIOPIA.

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Stroke is the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. The economic burden of stroke and its prevalence are increasing threats for developing countries. Hypertension is one of the leading risk factor for stroke. The prevalence of stroke is also significantly increasing in patients treated with some antihypertensive medications. Therefore, providing effective antihypertensive that reduces stroke risk and identifying other risk factors could be one of the most effective strategies for decreasing the prevalence and mortality due to stroke. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of stroke and associated factors among hypertensive individuals who are on antihypertensive medications at university of Gondar referral hospital, North West Ethiopia. Methods: Institutional based cross sectional study was implemented from December to June, 2018. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 295 hypertensive patients who were on treatment at university Gondar referral hospital, Ethiopia. The data were extracted from patient medical records using structured data abstraction tool. Then the data was entered into Epidata 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Descriptive statistics, cross-tabs and binary logistic regressions were used to assess factors that affect the risks of stroke. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Finally, the output was presented by using tables and bar chart. Result: In this study, 179