Study design and participants
This population based cross sectional study was part of the CNSSS (grant No. 2011BAI08B01) and was carried out in the Sichuan province from May 2015 to September 2015. All methods of survey were performed in accordance with the National Institute of Health Guide for CNSSS program and approved by the Stroke Screening and Prevention Programme of the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China. A cluster survey method was used, and 8 communities in Sichuan were selected at random. The stroke surveillance methods were compiled by the National Center for Stroke Control and Prevention. More details on the organization and implementation of the CNSSS can be found at the official website [12]. Briefly, the CNSSS is a cross-sectional survey with a 2-stage stratified sampling framework. We only screened all residents for ages ≥ 40 years in each community, because the prevalence of stroke is very low among younger adults [13]. All participants were people who had lived in the county (or district) for at least 6 months, and were initially screened using a structured face-to-face questionnaire by interviewers. The questionnaire included demographic characteristics (eg, age, gender, education level, and employment), stroke related behavioural factors (eg, drinking, smoking, exercise habits, and diet), personal and family medical history of stroke and chronic diseases (ie, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and atrial fibrillation [AF]), and physical examination (eg, height, weight, resting blood pressure). More detailed information regarding the lifestyle, related diseases, and laboratory examinations (such as fasting blood glucose [FBG], lipid, electrocardiogram [ECG], and carotid ultrasonography) was also obtained from the individuals who had experienced stroke and from the participants who were identified to be at a high risk for stroke.
The survey protocol was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the participating hospitals (the People’s Hospital of Deyang City, the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, and Suining Central Hospital ), and informed consent was obtained from all participants during recruitment.
Definitions of stroke and evaluation of risk factors
According to the World Health Organization criteria, stroke was defined as “rapidly developing clinical signs of focal (or global) disturbance of cerebral function, lasting more than 24 hours or leading to death, with no apparent cause other than that of vascular origin [14] ”. In this survey, stroke history and stroke types were established by a combination of self-reporting and the judgment of a physician or neurologist according to neuroimaging (including brain computed tomography scan and magnetic resonance imaging). Subtypes of stroke included ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke. By definition, patients with a history of transient ischemic attack only were excluded.
According to CNSSS program [1, 6], the eight conventional stroke risk factors were assessed in the CNSSS questionnaire included behavioral factors (overweight/obesity, smoking, physical inactivity), family history of stroke, and biomedical factors (hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and AF). Eight stroke related risk factors were defined as follows: hypertension was defined as a self-reported history or the use of antihypertensive drugs, or the average of two resting systolic blood pressure readings of ≥ 140 mm Hg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mm Hg in the field survey [15]. Diabetes mellitus was defined as the use of insulin and/or oral hypoglycaemic medications, or a self-reported history of diabetes or FBG ≥7.0 mmol/L in the field survey [16]. Dyslipidemia was defined as using a lipid-lowering medication or having one or more of the following in the field survey: triglycerides (TG) ≥ 1.70 mmol/L, cholesterol (TC) ≥ 5.18 mmol/L, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) ≥ 3.37 mmol/L [17]. AF was defined as reported by the respondent or diagnosed by ECG in the field survey. Current smoking (≥1 cigarette per day) was defined by subjects’ self-report. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated as weight (kg) divided by height squared (m2), and overweight or obesity was defined as BMI ≥26 kg/m2 [18]. Physical inactivity was defined as physical exercise <3 times a week for < 30 min each time, and this included industrial and agricultural labour [19]. A family history of stroke was restricted to immediate family members.
Subjects with at least three of the aforementioned eight stroke related risk factors or a history of stroke were classified as the high risk population for stroke. The risk assessment scales for stroke referred were designed by the CNSSS, and have been proved to have good reliability and validity compared with the modified scale of the Framingham Stroke Profile (FSP), and can be used as an evaluation tool for stroke risk assessment [20].
Data cleaning procedures and quality control
The detailed data cleaning procedure and quality control according to the CNSSS is presented in Figure. Briefly, 18595 participants volunteered to participate in the face-to-face survey, questionnaires were obtained in 17213 participants. The response rate was 93.6% (17413/18595). 521 participants with incomplete questionnaires on stroke history or risk factors records were exclude. Finally, 16892 valid individual records (including 524 stroke cases [429 ischemic stroke, 95 hemorrhagic stroke]) were enrolled. After the data cleaning procedure, there were no missing values in the variables assessed.
The interviewers were physicians or neurologists from community hospitals, who had at least 5 years of education in medicine. The quality of the measurements and data collection were maintained by implementing uniform training and standardized protocols. The staff involved in the survey were trained by the CNSSS program and passed the examination at the end of train. All data were entered electronically into a data terminal that was directly connected with the CNSSS database.
Sample size estimates and statistical analysis
According to the CNSSS, screening should cover at least 1% of the local residents aged ≥ 40 years. There were 167553 residents aged ≥ 40 years in the 8 communities according to the sixth national population census in 2010 [21], 10% of the targeted population, therefore, the expected sample size was 16755. The sample size (N) necessary for this cross sectional study was calculated based on a prevalence (p) of stroke of 2.37% among adults aged ≥ 40 years in China [6], with a 0.5% uncertainty level (d), using the formula n=tα2pq/d2 (t=1.96, α=95% for both sides; q=1- p), we calculated a required sample size of 16765. Considering a lost to follow-up rate of 10%, the planned sample size was 18628 (16765/0.90). Finally, 18595 participants aged ≥ 40 years participated in this survey.
Descriptive analyses were conducted to determine the distribution of the demographic data and risk factors in the study population using SPSS 17.0 (SPSS Inc New York, New York, USA). Categorical variables are presented as proportions and were compared using c2 tests between different subgroups. The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of each risk factor for stroke prevalence rate were derived using unconditional multivariate logistic regression models, fully adjusting for all other potential confounders, including age, sex, education, urban/rural residency, smoking, physical inactivity, overweight, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, AF, and family history of stroke.
We calculated population-attributable risks (PARs) of stroke, ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke from the model using the Bruzzi method for determining the confounder-adjusted PAR [22], which has been applied in many previous studies. The 95% CIs were evaluated for the PARs according to the previously described procedure [23].
All tests were two-sided, and P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.