Executive summary of stroke statistics in Korea 2018: A report from the epidemiology research council of the korean stroke society

Jun Yup Kim, Kyusik Kang, Jihoon Kang, Jaseong Koo, Dae Hyun Kim, Beom Joon Kim, Wook Joo Kim, Eung Gyu Kim, Jae Guk Kim, Jeong Min Kim, Joon Tae Kim, Chulho Kim, Hyun Wook Nah, Kwang Yeol Park, Moo Seok Park, Jong Moo Park, Jong Ho Park, Tai Hwan Park, Hong Kyun Park, Woo Keun SeoJung Hwa Seo, Tae Jin Song, Seong Hwan Ahn, Mi Sun Oh, Hyung Geun Oh, Sungwook Yu, Keon Joo Lee, Kyung Bok Lee, Kijeong Lee, Sang Hwa Lee, Soo Joo Lee, Min Uk Jang, Jong Won Chung, Yong Jin Cho, Kang Ho Choi, Jay Chol Choi, Keun Sik Hong, Yang Ha Hwang, Seong Eun Kim, Ji Sung Lee, Jimi Choi, Min Sun Kim, Ye Jin Kim, Jinmi Seok, Sujung Jang, Seokwan Han, Hee Won Han, Jin Hyuk Hong, Hyori Yun, Juneyoung Lee, Hee Joon Bae

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

153 Scopus citations

Abstract

Despite the great socioeconomic burden of stroke, there have been few reports of stroke statistics in Korea. In this scenario, the Epidemiologic Research Council of the Korean Stroke Society launched the “Stroke Statistics in Korea” project, aimed at writing a contemporary, comprehensive, and representative report on stroke epidemiology in Korea. This report contains general statistics of stroke, prevalence of behavioral and vascular risk factors, stroke characteristics, pre-hospital system of care, hospital management, quality of stroke care, and outcomes. In this report, we analyzed the most up-to-date and nationally representative databases, rather than performing a systematic review of existing evidence. In summary, one in 40 adults are patients with stroke and 232 subjects per 100,000 experience a stroke event every year. Among the 100 patients with stroke in 2014, 76 had ischemic stroke, 15 had intracerebral hemorrhage, and nine had subarachnoid hemorrhage. Stroke mortality is gradually declining, but it remains as high as 30 deaths per 100,000 individuals, with regional disparities. As for stroke risk factors, the prevalence of smoking is decreasing in men but not in women, and the prevalence of alcohol drinking is increasing in women but not in men. Population-attributable risk factors vary with age. Smoking plays a role in young-aged individuals, hypertension and diabetes in middle-aged individuals, and atrial fibrillation in the elderly. About four out of 10 hospitalized patients with stroke are visiting an emergency room within 3 hours of symptom onset, and only half use an ambulance. Regarding acute management, the proportion of patients with ischemic stroke receiving intravenous thrombolysis and endovascular treatment was 10.7% and 3.6%, respectively. Decompressive surgery was performed in 1.4% of patients with ischemic stroke and in 28.1% of those with intracerebral hemorrhage. The cumulative incidence of bleeding and fracture at 1 year after stroke was 8.9% and 4.7%, respectively. The direct costs of stroke were about?1.68 trillion (KRW), of which?1.11 trillion were for ischemic stroke and?540 billion for hemorrhagic stroke. The great burden of stroke in Korea can be reduced through more concentrated efforts to control major attributable risk factors for age and sex, reorganize emergency medical service systems to give patients with stroke more opportunities for reperfusion therapy, disseminate stroke unit care, and reduce regional disparities. We hope that this report can contribute to achieving these tasks.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)42-59
Number of pages18
JournalJournal of Stroke
Volume21
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2019

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Korean Stroke Society.

Keywords

  • Epidemiology
  • Statistics
  • Stroke

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