The impact of World and European Football Cups on stroke in the population of Dijon, France: a longitudinal study from 1986 to 2006.

Background: Acute stress may trigger vascular events. We aimed to investigate whether important football competitions involving the French football team increased the occurrence of stroke.

Methods: We retrospectively retrieved data of fatal and nonfatal stroke during 4 World Football Cups (1986, 1998, 2002, and 2006) and 4 European Championships (1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004), based on data from the population-based Stroke Registry of Dijon, France.