English summary: CHANGES IN THE INCIDENCE AND MORTALITY OF STROKE IN 1991-2002 IN FINLAND

Finland used to have one of the highest incidences of stroke in the world. However, declining trends in the incidence and mortality of stroke have been observed since the beginning of the 1980s until 1997. In this study we analyse the trends in fatal and non-fatal strokes in Finland over the period 1991-2002.

The Finnish Hospital Discharge Register and the National Causes of Death Register were linked together in order to compile a statistical database for epidemiological surveillance of cardiovascular diseases. The database, CardioVascular Disease Register (CVDR), which can be publicly accessed at the Internet (http://www.ktl.fi/cvdr/) includes data on 478,597 cerebrovascular events in patients >= 25 year of age from the years 1991-2002.

Age-standardized incidence of first-ever stroke (ICD-10 codes I60-I64) declined annually by 2.2% (95% CI, -2.4 to -1.9%) among men and 2.4% (-2.7 to -2.1%) among women aged 25-74 years. A similar trend was also observed in patients >=75 years of age. Stroke mortality decreased annually by 4.4% (-4.9% to -3.9%) among men and by 4.7% (-5.4% to -4.1%) among women aged 25-74 years. The 28-day case-fatality of first-ever stroke declined significantly in all age groups and in both sexes. The average length of hospitalisation due to stroke was shorter in 2002 than in 1991.

The favourable development in stroke incidence, mortality and case-fatality has continued in Finland from 1991 to 2002.