Incidence and prevalence of stroke continues to increase among young people

The incidence and prevalence of stroke continues to increase among young people (18 to 44 years old) in the US. Despite emerging evidence for novel risk factors among this populations, such as infection and high psychosocial burden, there are limited studies examining management of these conditions. To date, no study has investigated healthcare system utilization prior to a stroke event, particularly in younger patients. Therefore, through a retrospective cohort study design, a new study by Drs. Amelia Boehme, Mitch Elkind, and colleagues, including Mailman student and first author Brandi Vollman, addressed this gap in knowledge though assessment of care-seeking patterns 1 year prior to stroke in young (18–44 years) compared to middle aged (45–65 years) populations. As recently reported in BMC Health Services Research, they found that “those aged 18–44 years had increased odds of having no inpatient, outpatient or ED visits 1 year prior to stroke compared to those aged 45–65 years.” However, the authors conclude, as greater than 10% of both age groups had no prior risk, further exploration of potential risk factors is needed.