WHO meeting on community control of stroke and hypertension: Geneva, 21-26 November 1975: progress report on WHO stroke register in Dublin (centre 06)

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA SANTE WHO MEETING ON THE COMMUNITY CONTROL OF STROKE AND HYPERTENSION Geneva, 21-26 November 1975 PROGRESS REPORT ON WHO STROKE REGISTER IN DUBLIN (CENTRE 06) by A. Radie The Medico-Social Research Board Dublin, Ireland CVD/S/75 .11 ENGLISH ONLY !1'-JD::. The Stroke Register in Dublin started on 1 May 1972. During the rest of that year and during 1973 and 1974 all new cases of stroke, which occurred in a well- defined population of 133,000 people, were registered. The staff responsible for the stroke register consisted of a project supervisor (a doctor), two public health nurses, and a secretary. To achieve as complete regis- tration as possible the following measures were taken: 1. All the family doctors serving the population under study were asked to notify the staff of the stroke register about any patients with stroke who were treated at home. They were frequently reminded of it by newsletters about the progress of the stroke register and by personal telephone calls. 2. All general hospitals were visited at least once a week by the registry staff for case finding. Special attention was paid to the neurological units, neuro- surgical units, geriatric units, and physiotherapy departments. Other hospitals and fever hospitals were also visited. The reason for visiting fever hospitals was that some young patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage were admitted to them with a diagnosis of meningitis. 3. All nursing homes in Dublin were telephoned at least once a month for any new admissions of patients with stroke. 4. All death certificates of people who died and were resident in the area under study were checked once a month, New patients with stroke were admitted to the register until 31 December 1974. Each patient who survived the episode was followed up 3 weeks, 3 months and a year after onset of stroke. The follow-up was done by the registry staff visiting the patients. During 1975 no new patients have been admitted to the register, but the follow- up of patients continued and will continue until the end of the year. ; The issue of this document does not constitute formal publication. It should not be reviewed. abstracted or quoted without the agreement of the World Health Organization. Authors alone are responsible for views expressed in signed articles. Ce document ne const1tue pas une publication. II ne doit faire l'objet d'aucun compte rendu ou resume ni d'aucune citation sans l'autorisation de l'Organisat1on Mondiale de la Sante. Les opinions exprimees dans les articles signes n"engagent que leurs auteurs.