Analysis of participants’ characteristics and risk factors for stroke recurrence

Objective: This preliminary study aimed to identify risk factors contributing to recurrent stroke. Method: The study design was a descriptive analytic with a cross-sectional approach. The study involved post-stroke patients admitted to inpatient and outpatient of a neurology department. Ninety-eight participants were selected through consecutive sampling. Results: The study results suggested that patients with a bachelor's degree (2%) had a lower risk of recurrent stroke, while housewives (32.7%), patients with ischemic stroke (63.3%), and patients with a second incidence of stroke (78.6%) had a higher risk for recurrent stroke. Risk factors for stroke included modifiable factors such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, hypercholesterolemia, obesity, diabetes mellitus, smoking habit, alcohol abuse, stroke history, and use of contraceptive pills; and non-modifiable factors such as age, sex, ethnicity, and genetics. The results revealed that hypertension (86.7%), as a modifiable risk factor, posed the highest risk for recurrent stroke. Being of Javanese ethnicity (60.2%) was indicated as the non-modifiable risk factor with the highest risk of recurrent stroke. Conclusion: Risk factors are firmly associated with stroke recurrence. It is necessary to investigate stroke patients’ self-screening further to manage modifiable factors.