The effect of an overall healthy lifestyle on early-onset stroke: a cross-sectional study.

Background: The impact of an overall healthy lifestyle on early-onset stroke is still unclear. Our study thus aimed to investigate the association of overall healthy lifestyle on early-onset stroke in Chinese hospitalized stroke patients.

Methods: This retrospective study included 821 hospitalized stroke patients from the First People's Hospital of Changzhou. An overall healthy lifestyle was defined as the presence of more than 2 of the following items: healthy diet, no smoking, normal body mass index (BMI <24 kg/m2 ), engaging in moderate to high physical activity (≥3 times/week, and ≥30 minutes each time). Early-onset stroke was defined as a stroke first occurring at 50 years old or younger.

Results: Among all participants, there were 98 early-onset stroke patients and 723 late-onset stroke patients. Early-onset patients had a lower prevalence of overall healthy lifestyles than that of late-onset patients (P<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression revealed that an overall healthy lifestyle significantly reduced the risk of early-onset stroke. In reference to those without an overall healthy lifestyle, the multivariate-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for early-onset stroke among participants with an overall healthy lifestyle was 0.27 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.07-0.98].

Conclusions: In Chinese stroke patients, a healthy lifestyle was significantly associated with early-onset stroke. Individuals who were adhering to an overall healthy lifestyle had a lower risk of early-onset stroke compared to those who were not.