Incidence rate and age of onset of first stroke from CT scan examinations in Cape Coast metropolis

INTRODUCTION: The trends in the incidence and age of onset of first stroke is lacking in Ghana and with an increasing elderly population, such trends are projected to increase in developing countries. Through the review of Computed Tomography (CT) scan examinations and patients’ records; we assessed the incidence rate and age of onset of first stroke in Cape Coast Metropolis. METHODS: This study retrospectively reviewed all imaging records and clinical data of all stroke patients referred for CT scans in the radiology department of the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH) between January 2017 and December 2019. All CT confirmed cases of stroke were classified as either hemorrhagic stroke or ischemic stroke. Age adjusted annual incidence rate with 95% Confidence Intervals (CIs) were calculated assuming a Poisson distribution. Mean difference were tested using one way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). RESULTS: 840 patients with first onset of stroke were identified, comprising 417 (49.6%) males and 423 (50.4%) females. There was a statistically significant difference in the mean age of onset of first stroke in males (61.47 ± 13.36 years) and in females (63.41 ± 15.41 years), p = 0.049. The incidence of first stroke for the entire age categories were higher in males compared to the same age categories in females, except for patients aged 35–44 years in 2017, 25–34 years in 2018, 15–24 years and 75 years or older age groups in 2019. Males had hemorrhagic stroke at an older age (64.41 ± 15.31 years) compared to ischemic stroke (60.40 ± 12.42 years) in this study. This difference was statistically significant (p = 0.014). There was no significant difference in the mean age of onset of first stroke for the respective years under study: F (3, 836) = 0.693, P = 0.500. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study imply that the incidence rate of stroke is higher in males than in females and increases with age. The majority of the strokes were ischemic.