Estimated Burden and Risk Factors of Ischemic and Hemorrhagic Strokes in a Tertiary Hospital, Mogadishu-Somalia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: In Somalia, a country in East Africa, no data is available about key features of stroke such as incidence, prevalence, mortality, or stroke subtypes. The objective of this study is to show the burden of stroke, both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, and its risk factors in Somalia. Materials and Methods: We conducted a hospital-based retrospective study. Patients were recruited from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2019, at the Mogadishu Somali Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan Training and Research Hospital. Results: A total of 292 participants with stroke (65.4% male and 34.6% women) were analyzed. The prevalence of ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes was 66.8% and 33.2%, respectively. A system for categorization of subtypes of ischemic stroke mainly based on etiology has been developed for the Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST). The most prevalent was a stroke of other determined etiology (28.7%), while the least common were lunar stroke (11.3%) and cardio-embolic (13.3%). The most prevalent hemorrhagic strokes were in the basal ganglia. Conclusions: In Somalia, there is no previous data on the prevalence and risk factors of stroke. We concluded that the prevalence of hemorrhagic stroke in Somalia is higher compared to other countries in the region.