FREQUENCY OF HYPERTENSION IN PATIENTS PRESENTING WITH ISCHEMIC AND HEMORRHAGIC STROKE

Abstract

Background: Stroke is a major cause of both death and permanent disability across the world. It is widely categorized as ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. Hypertension is identified as the most dominant modifiable risk factor in both forms of strokes and can cause a lot of morbidity and mortality in the cerebral blood vessel. Early stroke and management of hypertension can contribute to lowering the level of stroke and its outcomes.

Objective: To identify the hypertension rate in patients who have ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke.

Methodology: After receiving permission of CPSP, this cross-sectional research was carried out in the Department of Medicine, MTI-Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar during  February 2025 to July 2025. Four hundred and fifty-five patients aged between 30 and 65 years arrived at the hospital with ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke were included through consecutive non-probability sampling. Based on the operational definition, stroke diagnosis was made based on the findings of the CT scan. Hypertension was a disease with systolic 130 mmHg or diastolic 80 mmHg blood pressure on two occasions with the help of a sphygmomanometer. The data was captured on a structured proforma to capture demographic data and clinical variables. The analysis of data was done on SPSS version 21.

Results: Hypertension was also seen in 86 (59.3) patients out of 145 patients who had stroke. Out of them, 58 (67.4) had ischemic and 28 (32.6) had hemorrhagic stroke. Males and individuals over the age of 50 years had higher chances to be affected by hypertension. Hypertension was found to have significant associations with diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and smoking.

Conclusion: Hypertension was also identified as very common in patients who came with ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. Strong blood pressure management and screening programs should be the key elements of decreasing the stroke burden effectively in the population.