Modelling the burden of stroke in Finland until 2030.

Background: It is well known that increasing age is the strongest risk factor of stroke. Therefore, it has been a common belief in many countries including Finland that the numbers of stroke patients will increase considerably during the next two decades because the population is rapidly ageing.

Methods: The FINMONICA and FINSTROKE registers operated in Finland in the Kuopio area and city of Turku from 1983 to 1997.

Stroke morbidity in Swedish- and Finnish-speaking populations of Turku, Finland.

Objectives: To examine differences in the morbidity and mortality of stroke between the Finnish- and Swedish-speaking populations in Turku, taking into account the socioeconomic differences between these groups.

Design: The population-based FINMONICA and FINSTROKE stroke registers recorded 5,135 stroke events among persons aged 25-99 years in Turku during 1988-1998. Events in persons aged > or =75 years were not registered in 1993-1995.

Impaired glucose tolerance as a risk factor for stroke in a cohort of non-institutionalised people aged 70 years.

Objective: to determine whether impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) is associated with an increased likelihood for ischaemic stroke.

Design: prospective cohort study.

Participants: a sample of 1,032 non-institutionalised people aged 70 years in the Turku Elderly Study, Turku, Finland.

Diabetes worsens the outcome of acute ischemic stroke.

Objective: To characterize acute stroke events in diabetic patients in a population-based stroke register and to determine the influence of diabetes on the outcome of acute stroke.

Methods: Four thousand three hundred and ninety patients were recorded in the FINMONICA and FINSTROKE registers after their first ischemic stroke from 1990 to 1998. We followed mortality and stroke outcome for up to 4 weeks after the onset of acute stroke.

Continuous 15-year decrease in incidence and mortality of stroke in Finland: the FINSTROKE study.

Background And Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the incidence and mortality trends in stroke events among persons 25 to 74 years of age in Finland during 1983 to 1997.

Methods: The population-based FINSTROKE register recorded 5650 new strokes among persons 25 to 74 years of age in 2 geographical areas of Finland: 2770 in the Kuopio area (east central Finland) and 2880 in Turku (southwestern Finland). Of these, 3065 were men and 2585 were women.