Opium Consumption Prevalence Among Patients With Ischemic Stroke Compared With Healthy Individuals in Iran

Background One of the supposed risk factors of ischemic stroke is opium addiction, while the researches about its prevalence among patients with stroke are limited. Objectives The aim of this study was comparing the prevalence of opium addiction between subjects with thrombotic ischemic stroke and healthy individuals. Patients and Methods In this comparative cross-sectional study carried out in a number of academic hospitals affiliated to Guilan University of Medical Science in the north of Iran from April 2013 to March 2014, 83 patients involved by ischemic stroke and 83 control subjects contributed. Both groups were selected by simple sampling method. We tried to match the groups in terms of age, gender and socioeconomic condition during sampling. Those were assessed from the aspects of demographic data, risk factors of stroke, opium dependence, dosage and the methods of consumption, and the data was recorded in a designed checklist. The data were analyzed using chi-squared test, independent t-test, and multiple logistic regression models in SPSS software version 19. P < 0.05 was considered as the level of significance. Results A total of 83 patients (47% female and 53% male) with mean age of 68.55 ± 15.01 years and 83 control subjects (37.3% female and 62.7% male) with mean age of 67.94 ± 13.55 years (P = 0.782) were assessed; 39.8% of the case group and 20.5% of the control group consumed opium with no significant difference (P = 0.007). There was no difference in the amount and methods of opium consumption between the two groups. After the adjustment of the effects of underlying and confounding variables, opium was not determined as an associated factor with stroke (OR = 1.95, P = 0.096). Conclusions Opium was not identified as a risk factor of ischemic stroke. A more extended survey considering further confounding factors is recommended.