Profile of stroke cases managed at physiotherapy department of a teaching hospital in Maiduguri, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Apart from the long term disability inflicted on stroke survivors, stroke also imposes heavy emotional and financial burden on the families, care givers and the society. Knowledge of the pattern of presentation, clinical characteristics and the socio-demographic distribution of stroke survivor patients can serve as a guide to physiotherapists in clinical decision making. This study reviewed clinical presentation, types and socio-demographic distribution of stroke survivors attending physiotherapy clinic at a teaching Hospital in Maiduguri, Nigeria.Methods: Purposive sampling was employed to retrieve and review folders of stroke survivors that attended physiotherapy clinic at a teaching Hospital in Maiduguri, Nigeria between January, 2006 and December, 2010. Socio-demographics of the stroke survivors, clinical characteristics and risk factors for stroke were extracted from the retrieved folders. The extracted data were summarized using descriptive statistics of percentages, frequency counts and bar chart. Results: A total of 283 folders of stroke survivors from January, 2006 to December, 2010 were reviewed. Mean age and age range of the stroke survivors in years were 45.2±1.40 and 16 – 85 respectively. Stroke survivors between the ages of 56 and 75 years were in the majority (42.8%). Male stroke survivors accounted for 58% and those that suffered ischemic stroke comprised 85.9% of the stroke survivors. Hypertension was the dominant (62.5%) risk factors among the stroke survivors. Conclusions: Awareness campaign is needed to enlighten the populace on healthy lifestyle and prevention of hypertension and other risk factors for stroke. Also, early presentation for physiotherapy management should be encouraged.