Undiagnosed Major Risk Factors in Acute Ischaemic Stroke Patients in Qatar: Analysis from the Qatar Stroke Registry

Objective: We examined the presentation to hospital, subtypes of ischaemic stroke for patients admitted to stroke services in Qatar and their 90-day prognosis based on the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) for those with diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidaemia.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients admitted with acute ischaemic stroke from January 2014 to April 2024. The mRS was dichotomised with favourable outcome (0-2) and unfavourable outcome (3-6).

Results: A total of 9479 patients were included in the study. Patients with a prior history of hypertension and dyslipidaemia and untreated/undiagnosed for these risk factors on admission were more likely to present with a lower National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score at admission (p<0.001). These patients were also more likely to present with small vessel disease (SVD) or subcortical stroke (p<0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that age (adjusted OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.06) and hypertension (adjusted OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.96) were more likely to have an mRS score of 3-6 at 90 days while males (adjusted OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.46 to 0.69), prior antidiabetic therapy (adjusted OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.34 to 0.79) and undiagnosed diabetes (adjusted OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.99) were protective against an mRS score of 3-6 at 90 days after adjusting for covariates.

Conclusion: Patients with a prior history of hypertension and dyslipidaemia and undiagnosed on admission are more likely to present with a lower NIHSS score but have a worse outcome at 90 days. The lower NIHSS may be explained by a higher frequency of SVD.