Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of ischemic versus hemorrhagic stroke in patients taking anti-coagulation therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional prospective study was conducted at medicine Departments of Peoples University of Medical & Health Sciences (PUMHS), for a period of 18 months from September 2021 to January 2023. All the patients taking anti-thrombotic therapy (warfarin, rivaroxaban, dabigatran, or apixaban) were included in this study and their baseline and clinical data were collected. Statistical package for the social sciences version (SPSS v. 26) was used for data entry and data analysis. Chi-square test/fisher’s exact and independent t-test test was used for determination of risk factors associated with hemorrhagic or ischemic strokes. A p value of <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 296 patients were enrolled for final analysis. The overall mean age, BMI, and duration of anticoagulation therapy was 62.14±8.44 years, 25.38±3.19 kg/m2, and 8.34±12.51 months. Among all study participants, 57.43% (n = 170) were taking NOACs while 42.56% (n = 126) were taking warfarin. The overall prevalence of stroke was 14.18% (n = 42) and among them hemorrhagic stroke was more common (57.14%, n = 27) than ischemic stroke (35.71%, n = 15). Patients taking NOACs were more likely to have hemorrhagic stroke as compared to ischemic stroke, 74.07% (n = 20/27) and 40.0% (n = 7), respectively, p value <0.001. CONCLUSION: The risk of stroke is quite high in patients receiving anti-thrombotic therapies. Hemorrhagic stroke is higher in patients receiving NOACs KEYWORDS: Anti-thrombotic therapy, ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, Pakistan
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