Comorbid Diseases and Dyslipidemia Among Elderly Home Care Stroke Patients

Objective: There are not enough age-specific studies of secondary prevention in elderly stroke patients in Turkey. The aim of our study is to investigate comorbid diseases and the actual cholesterol levels of elderly home-care stroke patients. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive study done by screening the files of the stroke patients visited by home health care personnel between January 01 and December 31, 2012. Lipid profiles and comorbid diseases were investigated in stroke patients aged 65 years or older. Results: A total of 112 stroke patients were recruited to the study. Most common comorbid diseases along with stroke were hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Total cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels were 173.6 ±46.2 mg/dL, 130.8 ±64.3 mg/dL, 40.5 ±12.9 mg/dL and 105.0 ±36.9 mg/dL respectively. The mean total cholesterol, HDL and LDL levels seemed to increase with age, however there were not statistically significant differences between age groups. However, there was a significant difference of TG levels between age groups 65-74 years and 85years (P = 0.02). Among patients, 53.6% had LDL levels higher than 100 mg/dL and 82.1% had LDL levels higher than 70 mg/dL. Conclusion: Dyslipidemia is found to be frequent among stroke patients and in secondary prevention; hypercholesterolemia is undertreated in older patients, mainly in this age subgroup.