Risk Factor Control in Stroke Survivors with Diagnosed and Undiagnosed Diabetes: A Ghanaian Registry Analysis.

Background And Purpose: Expert consensus guidelines recommend optimizing global risk factor control in diabetic stroke survivors to improve outcomes. Since relatively little is known about the adequacy of risk factor control among diabetic stroke survivors in sub-Saharan Africa, we sought to assess control rates of key traditional risk factors among Ghanaian stroke survivors with diabetes. A secondary objective was to assess the burden of undiagnosed dysglycemic states among stroke survivors without a prior diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (DM) METHODS: Cross-sectional study of outpatient stroke survivors consecutively enrolled in a stroke registry at a tertiary medical center in Ghana between January 2018 and March 2020.

Frequency and factors linked to refractory hypertension among stroke survivors in Ghana.

Background: Refractory hypertension (RfH) is a rare, severe phenotype of resistant hypertension, linked to higher risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Little is known about the association of RfH with stroke type and subtype.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and predictors of RfH among stroke survivors in Ghana.

Risk factors for stroke occurrence in a low HIV endemic West African country: A case-control study.

Background: HIV infection is an emerging vascular risk factor associated with stroke occurrence. The weight of evidence from sub-Saharan Africa in support of this has accrued from countries with high HIV prevalence. Our objective was to assess the contribution of HIV sero-positivity to the occurrence and outcomes of stroke in a West African country with low HIV prevalence.

Long-Term Outcomes of Stroke in a Ghanaian Outpatient Clinic.

Background: Compared with high-income countries, sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries experience a comparatively higher early mortality from stroke. However, data on long-term mortality from stroke in SSA are lacking.

Objective: Our aim is to assess long-term outcomes of stroke in an SSA setting.

Baseline Prescription and One-Year Persistence of Secondary Prevention Drugs after an index Stroke in Central Ghana.

Background And Purpose: There is a paucity of data on persistence of secondary prevention medications among stroke survivors in resource-limited settings where stroke is on a rapid upward trajectory and its management severely challenged. To avert new cardiovascular events after stroke, preventive medications should be promptly instituted and used continuously. We report 1-year rates and determinants of persistent utilization of secondary prevention therapies after stroke in Ghana.

Burden and Predictors of Poststroke Cognitive Impairment in a Sample of Ghanaian Stroke Survivors.

Background And Objective: There are limited data on vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) from low- and middle-income countries where the stroke burden is burgeoning. The aim of this study was to characterize the burden, determinants, and effects of VCI on health-related quality of life in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Methods: From January 2015 to February 2016, we collected information on 147 consecutive stroke survivors (>45 years) seen at a tertiary hospital in Ghana and 49 demographically matched stroke-free controls.

One-Year Rates and Determinants of Poststroke Systolic Blood Pressure Control among Ghanaians.

Background And Objective: Elevated systolic blood pressure (SBP) is potently associated with risk of recurrent strokes. In resource-limited settings, there is a dearth of data on the rates and determinants of uncontrolled SBP among stroke survivors at high risk of recurrent events. The objective of this study is to assess the rates and determinants of uncontrolled SBP over the first year post stroke.

Profile of neurological disorders in an adult neurology clinic in Kumasi, Ghana.

Background: Although the burden of neurological disorders is highest among populations in developing countries there is a dearth of data on the clinical spectrum of these disorders.

Objective: To profile the frequency of neurologic disorders and basic demographic data in an adult neurology out-patient service commissioned in 2011 in Kumasi, Ghana.

Methods: The study was conducted at the neurology clinic of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana.

Recent patterns and predictors of neurological mortality among hospitalized patients in Central Ghana.

Background: Although neurological disorders are projected to escalate globally in the coming decades, there is a paucity of enumerated data on the burden, spectrum and determinants of outcomes of adult neurological admissions in resource-limited settings, especially within sub-Saharan Africa.

Objective: To evaluate the diversity, demography, and determinants of mortality among adult patients presenting with neurological disorders over a 6-year period in a tertiary medical referral institution in the Central belt of Ghana.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of data on neurological admissions and in-patient outcomes between 2008 and 2013 was undertaken.

Trends in stroke admission and mortality rates from 1983 to 2013 in central Ghana.

Background: Accumulating data based on model-derived estimates suggest rising rates of stroke in sub-Saharan Africa over the next several decades. Stroke is a leading cause of death, disability, and dementia worldwide. Directly enumerated hospital-based data on the longitudinal trajectory of stroke admissions and deaths in sub-Saharan Africa could help hospital administrators, public health officials, and government policy-makers with planning and utilization of scarce resources.

The modern pre-levodopa era of Parkinson's disease: insights into motor complications from sub-Saharan Africa.

During the past decade, a number of large drug trials suggested that the initiation of levodopa therapy should be delayed to reduce the risk of motor complications in patients with Parkinson's disease. However, the relative contribution of the cumulative exposure to levodopa and of disease progression to the pathophysiology of motor fluctuations and dyskinesias is still poorly understood. In this 4-year multicentre study, we investigated a large cohort of patients with Parkinson's disease in a sub-Saharan African country (Ghana), where access to medication is limited and the initiation of levodopa therapy often occurs many years after onset.