A cohort study on the active life expectancy of stroke patients using a community-based stroke registry in a Japanese rural district.

In order to support patients with a history of stroke, public health nurses, hospitals and ambulance stations in and around the Oyabe Health District (49 000 population, rural area) provided initial information for a community-based stroke registry starting from 1966. This stroke registry was established by the present authors to record the patients' status and provide social services at home. The information from 1032 stroke patients was compiled into a register during the period 1966-79.