Poster Presentation Asia Pacific Stroke Conference 2024

A study to determine stroke incidence, causes, treatments and outcomes for Aboriginal Peoples of South Australia and the Northern Territory is feasible: a prospective population-based pilot study. (#340)

Angela Dos Santos 1 , Edmund Cheong 2 , Anna Balabanski 3 , Kendall Goldsmith 4 , Jim Burrow 5 , Stephen Brady 6 , Ferdous Alam 7 , Mark Parsons 8 , Judith Katzenellenbogen 9 , Amanda Thrift 10 , Timothy Kleinig 11 , Luke Burchill 12 , Alex Brown 13
  1. University of New South Wales, Australian Stroke Alliance, Royal Melbourne and Campbelltown Hospital, Leichhardt, NSW, Australia
  2. Neurology, The Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  3. Neurology, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
  4. STEM Academic unit, The University of South Australia , Adelaide, SA, Australia
  5. Medicine, The royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, NT, Australia
  6. Medicine, Alice Springs Hospital, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
  7. Medicine / Cardiology, Whyalla Hospital & Health Services, Whyalla, SA, Australia
  8. Medicine and Health , University of New South Wales, SWS Clinical School, Liverpool, NSW, Australia
  9. University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
  10. 10. Stroke and Ageing Research, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Monash University, Monash, VIC, Australia
  11. Neurology, The Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  12. Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester , Minnesota, USA
  13. National Centre for Indigenous Genomics, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia

Background: Robust estimates of stroke incidence among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Aboriginal Peoples) are unavailable; previous studies have been metropolitan based and included few Aboriginal Peoples. In addition, research including Aboriginal Peoples has often neglected to incorporate the CONSolIDated critERia (CONSIDER) reporting guidelines.   

Aims: We performed a pilot stroke incidence study, focused on feasibility and inclusion of the CONSIDER reporting guidelines, to model the design of a future population-based study aiming to definitively determine stroke incidence, antecedents, treatment, and outcomes.

Methods: All patients aged ≥15 years residing within pre-defined postcodes of South Australia and the Northern Territory (population 885,472 with 5.1% being Aboriginal Peoples), admitted to specific hospitals and diagnosed with acute stroke between 01/10/2015 and 31/12/2015.

Results: Over the three-month duration, 123 people with first-ever strokes were identified, 10 (8%) self-identifying as Aboriginal. The study demonstrated feasibility, specifically for establishing sample size, diagnostic confirmation, identifying incident events, confirming stroke subtypes, establishing a stable population, standardizing data for global comparison and ethical research as per the CONSIDER reporting guidelines.

Conclusions: A larger population-based stroke incidence study is both feasible and urgently needed to provide robust estimates of stroke incidence, antecedents, treatments and outcomes in Aboriginal Peoples, to help guide disparity-reduction.