Favorable Trends in the Incidence and Outcome in Stroke in Nondiabetic and Diabetic Subjects

Background and Purpose— Several studies indicate a declining case-fatality and mortality in stroke. Little is known about time trends in stroke for subjects with diabetes. The purpose of this study was to compare time trends in incidence, case-fatality and mortality for stroke patients with or without diabetes. Methods— This study was based on the Northern Sweden MONICA Project Stroke registry during 1985 to 2003. 15 382 patients, aged 35 to 74 years, were included in the study. 11 605 had a first-ever stroke and 3777 had a recurrent stroke. In both men and women previously diagnosed diabetes was found in 22.8%. Results— The incidence of stroke was 5 and 8 times higher in diabetic subjects than in nondiabetics, in men and women, respectively. Incidence of first-ever stroke decreased for nondiabetic men, probability value <0.001, and for diabetic women, probability value=0.012. Recurrent stroke incidence declined highly significant, probability value <0.001, in all but diabetic men. For diabetic women, the...