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London, United Kingdom 2013 Table 1. Life Events and Risk of SAH, all patients Question Cases Cont-rols OR adj (95% CI) n = 490 n = 773 Financial problems < 12 months 193 348 0.99 (0.75 - 1.31) > 12 months 235 457 0.71 (0.53 - 0.94) Death of family mem-bers < 12 months 129 201 0.97 (0.71 - 1.32) > 12 months 239 463 0.54 (0.40 - 0.72) Table 2. Life Events and Risk of SAH, males and females Question Cases Controls OR adj (95% CI) Males: stress at work < 12 months 55/147 179/332 0.79 (0.47 - 1.33) > 12 months 74/147 223/332 0.62 (0.38 - 1.00) Females: children-related stress < 12 months 106/343 158/441 1.00 (0.69 - 1.45) > 12 months 145/343 200/441 0.81 (0.56 - 1.15) Cerebrovasc Dis 2013; 35 (suppl 3)1-854 55 9 Etiology of stroke and risk factors A 15:50 - 16:00 Stress and aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage: case control study. A. de Wilde1, P. Greebe2, G.J.E. Rinkel3, A. Algra4 UMC Utrecht Stroke Center, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Utrecht., Utrecht, THE NETHERLANDS1,UMC Utrecht Stroke Center, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Utrecht., Utrecht, THE NETHERLANDS2, UMC Utrecht Stroke Center, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Utrecht., Utrecht, THE NETHERLANDS3, UMC Utrecht Stroke Center, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery and Julius Center, University Medical Center Utrecht., Utrecht, THE NETHERLANDS4 Background Subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) may be related to stress. Patients with SAH often report a link between stress and their disease. Stress is associated with cardiovascular diseases and isch-aemic stroke, but few data exists on the association between stress and SAH. We studied the relationship between stressful life events and the risk of SAH. Methods We performed a case control study in aneurysmal SAH patients and control subjects who were randomly selected from the general population. We used the Marriage and Stressful Life Events Measures (MSLAM) questionnaire to obtain information about the occurrence of life events during the 12 months preceding SAH or earlier in life. Life events were classified into four categories: financial-related stress, death of family members, work-related stress and chil-dren- related stress. We hypothesized that work-related stress primarily would affect men, and children-related stress women. We calculated multivariable adjusted odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals for the categories of life events. We adjusted for confounding variables: age, daily alcohol usage, smoking and hypertension. Our study was approved by the Institution-al Review Board. Results Our analyses included questionnaires from 490 SAH patients (mean age 59.0 years; SD 11.4) and 773 controls (51.1 years; SD 14.5). Tables 1 and 2 show the effects of life events on the risk of SAH. None of the categories of life events were associated with an elevated risk of SAH. The results for work-related and children-related stress were essentially the same in men and women. Conclusion Our data suggest that life events in the year preceding SAH or during entire life are not a risk factor for SAH. These findings may be influenced by information bias: SAH patients may be less likely to perceive an event as stressful retrospectively or may have impaired recall because of cognitive deficits.


Karger_ESC London_2013
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