Gender differences in risk factors, clinical presentation, and outcome of stroke: A secondary analysis of previous hospital-based study in Qatar

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe gender differences in stroke risk factors, clinical presentation, and outcome in Qatar. Subjects and Methods: This is a secondary post hoc analysis of our previous prospective observational hospital-based study with new objective. Results: Among the 270 patients involved in this study, there were 198 (73%) males and 72 (27%) females. Two hundred and seventeen (80.4%) patients had ischemic strokes, whereas 53 (19.6%) patients had hemorrhagic stroke. Patients with hemorrhagic stroke showed no significant gender difference in their stroke profile. On the other hand, male patients with ischemic stroke were more likely to have had a history of hypertension (P < 0.001), smoking (P < 0.001), and daily alcohol drinking (P < 0.001), while female patients were more likely to have had a history of diabetes mellitus (P < 0.001). Moreover, dysarthria, swallowing problems, and gait imbalance were observed with high frequency in male patients, while headache was significantly associated with females (P < 0.001). Posterior circulation stroke syndrome was observed more in male patients, whereas female patients tend to have had partial anterior circulation syndrome. In-hospital mortality rate showed no sex differences in both hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes. Conclusions: No gender differences were found in patients with hemorrhagic stroke, whereas in patients with ischemic stroke there were significant gender differences in risk factors and clinical presentation except for fatality rate.