Sex Differences in Patients with First-ever Stroke (in terms of stroke types, risk factors, warning signs and stroke complications)

뇌졸중 초발 환자의 남녀별 차이점에 대한 연구 (뇌졸중 유형, 위험인자, 전조증상, 합병증의 관점에서)

Objectives : The objective of this study was to assess whether there were sex differences in stroke types, risk factors, warning signs, and stroke complications among patients with first-ever stroke. Methods : Six-hundred seventy six patients with first-ever stroke were recruited at the Department Cardiovascular and Neurologic Diseases (Stroke center) of KyungHee University Oriental Hospital, DongGuk University International Hospital, and Kyungwon University In-cheon Oriental Medical Hospital from September 2005 to June 2007. Patients were hospitalized within 28 days after the onset of stroke. We investigated their stroke types, ischemic stroke subtypes by TOAST classification, risk factors, warning signs, stroke complications, general characteristics such as age, sex, etc. Results : Overall, 347 patients were male and 279 female. Compared with males, female patients were significantly older (mean age 67.3${\pm}$1.1 versus 62.4${\pm}$1.6 years) (P=0.000). We did not find significant sex differences in stroke types or ischemic stroke subtypes by TOAST classification. History of hypertension was significantly more frequent in female than male patients (P=0.000). Among stroke complications, urinary tract infection was significantly more frequent in female than male patients (P=0.003). Among warning signs, blepharospasm was significantly more frequent in female than male patients (P=0.006). Conclusions : Knowledge of sex differences of stroke patients can help us gain better insights on the characteristics of stroke patients. We need further and larger scale research to acquire more concrete conclusions on this theme.