Each participant’s risk profile was evaluated from data obtained during a medical history and physical examination and from laboratory analysis of a fasting blood sample. Current practice guidelines were used to define risk categories.
Ninety-nine percent of participants had at least one suboptimally controlled risk factor. Ninety-one percent had two or more concurrent risk factors inadequately treated. Eighty percent of the participants had prehypertension or hypertension, 67 % were overweight or obese, 60 % had suboptimal low-density lipoprotein, 45 % had impaired fasting glucose, 34 % had low high-density lipoprotein, and 14 % were current smokers, while reportedly receiving routine medical care.
These findings confirm that cardiovascular risk factors remain inadequately managed in stroke survivors, increasing the chance for repeat stroke and cardiovascular event. Systematic assessment of this vulnerable population is imperative at every healthcare encounter.