Incidence of mortality and risk factors among adult stroke patients in public hospitals Jigjiga town Somali region, Ethiopia: Cohort study design

Background: A stroke is a sudden loss of blood supply to the brain, leading to permanent tissue damage caused by embolism, thrombosis, or hemorrhagic events. Almost 85% of strokes are ischemic strokes. Objective: To assess the incidence of mortality and risk factors among adult stroke patients in public hospitals of Jigjiga town, Somali Region, Ethiopia. Methods: An institution-based retrospective cohort study was conducted from 25 May to 15 June 2022 at Sheikh Hassen Yabare Referral Hospital and Karamara Hospital. Data were entered using Epi-Data version 4.3 and exported to be analyzed using SPSS 20 statistical software. Kaplan-Meier was used to estimate mean survival time, and a predictor with a p-value < 0.05 was considered to have a significant in multivariate Cox regression. Results: About 480 stroke patients’ charts were included in this study; among those, 229 (53.3%) were male stroke patients, and 259 (60.2%) had an ischemic stroke. The overall incidence rate was 7.15 deaths per 1000 person-day observations. The overall median survival time for adult stroke patients was 120 days. GCS level b/n 3–8 has a lower survival time with a mean survival time of 57 days (95% CI: 48.8–66.7) as compared to those who had GCS level 9–12 with a mean survival time of 103 days (95% CI: 93.4–112.9). Age ⩾ 71 (AHR = 1.9; 95% CI: 1.02–3.45), presence of pneumonia (AHR = 2.7; 95% CI: 1.52–4.63), and history of hypertension (AHR = 2.07; 95% CI: 1.08–3.89) were the predictors of mortality among stroke patients. Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, the incidence of mortality was high, at 7.15 per 1000 person-years. The presence of pneumonia, decreased GCS, age ⩾ 7, and history of hypertension were predictors of mortality in adult stroke patients.