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Objectives – The main goal of the Third Stroke Registry in Tartu was to determine the incidence and 28-day case-fatality of first-ever stroke in an Estonian population. Subjects and methods – Stroke registry was conducted from 1 December 2001 to 30 November 2003. Results – The registry included 451 patients. The incidence rate of first-ever stroke age-standardized to the European population was 188/100,000. Among younger patients, the rates for men dominated. The incidence among men aged 0–44 years was 18/100,000, for women 9/100,000. In the age group 45–54 years, the corresponding rates were 143/100,000 and 98/100,000 respectively. The overall 28-day case-fatality rate was 26%. Conclusions – The total stroke incidence in Tartu is comparable with other European studies, but the rates for younger patients are higher. This may be associated with lower quality of life, less attention to public health, high prevalence and/or poor control of stroke risk factors. The 28-day case-fatality is somewhat higher than in other European centres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the outcome at 1 year following a first-ever stroke based on a population-based registry from 2001 to 2003 in Tartu, Estonia. The outcome of first-ever stroke was assessed in 433 patients by stroke risk factors, demographic data and stroke severity at onset using the Barthel Index (BI) score and the modified Rankin Score (mRS) at seventh day, 6 months and 1 year. Female sex, older age, blood glucose value >10 mmol/l on admission and more severe stroke on admission were the best predictors of dependency 1 year following the first-ever stroke. At 1 year, the percentage of functionally dependent patients was 20% and the survival rate was 56%. The use of antihypertensive/antithrombotic medication prior to stroke did not significantly affect the outcome. The survival rate of stroke patients in Tartu is lower compared with other studied populations. The outcome of stroke was mainly determined by the initial severity of stroke and by elevated blood glucose value on admission. Patients with untreated hypertension had more severe stroke and trend for unfavourable outcome compared with those who were on treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]