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Background: It is well-documented that women tend to be worse off post-stroke. They are often frailer, have less independence, lower functionality, increased rates of depression, and overall a lower quality of life. People who have had strokes benefit from rehabilitative support to increase their independence and reduce the risk of stroke reoccurrence. Despite the gender differences in the effects of stroke, interventions explicitly aimed at helping women have not been identified., Purpose: This systematic review aimed to summarize the effectiveness of the health promoting behavioural interventions for reducing risk factors and improved self-management in women post-stroke, compared to usual care., Method: Seven databases, Medline (Ovid), CINAHL, PsychInfo, Embase, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar, were reviewed for randomized controlled trials covering post-stroke interventions. The following keywords were used: health promotion, secondary prevention, woman, women, female, sex difference, gender difference, after stroke, and post-stroke., Results: Ten randomised controlled trials were found. These demonstrated common successful approaches for rehabilitation, but none specifically described health promotion strategies for women. Core components of successful programs appeared to be a structured approach, tailored to clientele and formalised support systems through their carer, family networks, or community engagement. Comprehensive reminder systems were successful for stroke risk reduction., Conclusion: Women are disproportionately affected by stroke and are often in the frail category. Tailored structured health promotion programs with family and caregiver support combined with a comprehensive reminder system would appear to enable women post-stroke., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2021.)

Background: There is a paucity of data relating to the association of gout with the occurrence of hypertension and diabetes mellitus in patients with stroke. This study aimed to determine the association of gout with the risk of hypertension and diabetes mellitus in a cohort of stroke patients from Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among stroke survivors in South and East Auckland, New Zealand from the years 2010 to 2014. Electronic health record data were collected and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science version 23. Multivariate logistic regression modelling adjusted for age, gender, and ethnicity was conducted to determine the association of gout with the risk of hypertension and diabetes mellitus in patients discharged with a diagnosis of stroke., Results: The age-, gender-, and ethnicity-adjusted odds ratio for having hypertension and diabetes mellitus among stroke survivors with gout history were 3.25 (95% confidence interval 1.32-8.03) and 1.94 (95% confidence interval 1.12-3.36), respectively. Māori stroke survivors with gout history had the highest risk of having diabetes mellitus with age- and gender-adjusted odds ratio of 5.10 (95% confidence interval 1.90-18.93)., Conclusion: The findings from this study suggest gout may be independently associated with an increased risk of hypertension and diabetes mellitus in patients with stroke. Māori who are the indigenous population of New Zealand show a greater risk of diabetes mellitus associated with a gout diagnosis compared to other populations. This finding highlights the importance of the need for further research with Māori stroke survivors and other indigenous populations.

Despite improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease through medical advances, it remains the largest single cause of disability and the second leading cause of death on a global scale. Despite this, patient awareness of cardiovascular risk is low and adherence to secondary prevention measures is inadequate. This combined with an ageing population could have serious consequences for both personal and health care costs. Risk management has been used to design strategies to prevent both primary and secondary stroke. These strategies have largely relied upon health professionals providing information, support and monitoring of patients conditions and control of individual risk factors. However, these strategies have not always been successful in the long-term management and prevention of secondary cardiovascular disease. This review explores the literature surrounding risk awareness as a tool to improve patient adherence to medications and lifestyle behaviours to reduce risk of secondary stroke.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of asymptomatic brain ischaemic in the presence of vascular disease in other arterial territories., Design: Studies up to January 2011 were identified through comprehensive search strategies. Arcsine transformation for meta-analysis was used to calculate the standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI)., Setting: A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed., Participants: For each study, the proportion of patients positive for SBI in the presence of other systemic vascular disease was extracted and analyzed., Main Outcome Measures: Using a random-effects model, a pooled effect estimate interpreted as a percentage prevalence of disease was calculated., Results: SBI in the presence of acute ischaemic stroke was found in 23% (SMD 0.99; P < 0.001; 95% CI 0.88-1.10); a 35% prevalence was found in patients with coronary artery disease (SMD 1.26; P < 0.001; 95% CI 0.95-1.58); and a 14% prevalence in patients with peripheral artery disease (SMD 0.48; P < 0.002; 95% CI 0.42-0.54), although the data-set in the latter is smaller., Conclusions: Patients with systemic vascular disease are at an increased risk of silent brain infarction.