A preliminary spatial analysis of diagnosed stroke disease in Osun state, Nigeria

INTRODUCTION: There have been a number of clinical studies on diagnosed Stroke disease. However, there have been few studies on the geographical disparities for stroke. This study investigates the spatial pattern of stroke disease reflecting socio-demographic characteristics in the State. METHODS: Stroke patients' admissions for 22 years (from 1990 to 2012) were examined. Their socio-demographic characteristics were extracted from their health records and analyzed. The location of the stroke patients were categorized by Local Governments Areas (LGAs). Spatial maps were generated and produced in a Geographical Information System (GIS) environment. It involves the analysis of the distribution of stroke cases in relation to their underlying population to determine the areas of high and low density of diagnosed cases across the state. RESULTS: The result highlighted the spatial distribution of diagnosed stroke cases and also highlighted the areas of concern regarding their spatial distribution within the state. Social inequalities in stroke were persistent as incidence rates in urban areas (North) were around 3 times higher than in the rural areas (South). However, this could be due to better healthcare access in the urban areas than in the rural areas as there were disparities in the distribution of healthcare facilities involved in administering care to stroke patients in Osun State. CONCLUSION: The outcome of this study appears to indicate that spatial inequalities in the access to Stroke healthcare is a concern that needs to be addressed in order to manage the disease adequately.