The largest population-based study on strokes in the UK for 20 years is to
be launched this year by the Stroke Association.
The charity has been awarded £180,000 to fund the study, which will provide
up-to-date information on the condition, and will be the only high-quality
population based study in the northern hemisphere to chart recent changes in
incidence, death-rate and stroke outcomes. It is due to get underway later this
year, with the findings unlikely to be published before 2006 or 2007.
Up to now, there has only been one comparable study carried out within the
UK – the Oxfordshire Community Stroke Project. Although conducted 20 years ago,
current health resourcing plans are often still based on this data.
Research leader Dr Peter Rothwell, a consultant neurologist at the Radcliffe
Infirmary, Oxford, said: "Our study will allow us to evaluate the success
of the UK in preventing and treating stroke, and to plan future services."