Research report
The relation between questions indicating transient ischaemic
attack and stroke in 20 years of follow up in men and women in the
Renfrew/Paisley Study
C L Harta, D J Holeb, G Davey Smithc
a Department of Public
Health, University of Glasgow, 1 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow G12
8RZ, Scotland, b West of Scotland
Cancer Surveillance Unit, c Department of Social Medicine, University of
Bristol, UK
Correspondence to: Carole Hart (c.l.hart{at}udcf.gla.ac.uk)
Accepted for publication 5 April 2001
STUDY
OBJECTIVE
Transient ischaemic attack (TIA) is
often a precursor to stroke, so identification of people experiencing
TIA could assist in stroke prevention by indicating those at high risk
of stroke who would benefit most from intervention for other stroke
risk factors. The objective of this study was to investigate whether answers to a simple questionnaire for TIA could predict the occurrence of stroke in the following 20 years.
DESIGNProspective
cohort study, conducted between 1972 and 1976, with 20 years of follow up.
SETTINGRenfrew and
Paisley, Scotland.
PARTICIPANTS7052 men
and 8354 women aged 45-64 years at the time of screening completed a
questionnaire and attended a physical examination. The questionnaire
asked participants if they had ever, without warning, suddenly lost the
power of an arm, suddenly lost the power of a leg, suddenly been unable
to speak properly or suddenly lost consciousness. These four questions
were taken as indicators of TIA and were related to subsequent stroke
mortality or hospital admission.
MAIN RESULTSFor
women, each question was significantly related to stroke risk, whereas
for men only the question on loss of power of arm was significantly
related to stroke risk. Men and women answering two or more questions
positively had double the relative rate of stroke compared with men and
women answering none of the questions positively, even after adjusting
for other risk factors for stroke.
CONCLUSIONSA
simple questionnaire for TIA could help predict stroke over 20 years of
follow up. Targeting men and women who report TIA with early treatment
could help to prevent strokes from occurring.
Keywords: prospective study; stroke
© 2001 by Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
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