Stroke incidence and survival in three Sicilian municipalities

We investigated the incidence of first-ever stroke in three Sicilian munici palities over the years 1984-1987. Case ascertainment involved two approach es: a door-to-door two-phase prevalence survey and a study of death certifi cates. Only first-ever strokes occurring within the study time interval wer e included, and diagnoses were based on specified criteria. We found 138 su bjects who had experienced a first stroke over 73 488 person-years; the ave rage incidence rate (new cases per 1000 population per year) was 1.9 overal l, 1.7 in men, and 2.1 in women. Incidence increased steeply with age and w as similar in men and women. Incidence was similar in the three study munic ipalities. The overall case-fatality rate was 35% at 30 days and 32% at one week. Survival after stroke was similar in men and women but better in you nger compared to older stroke patients. Comparisom with previous studies su ggest the absence of major geographic variations in stroke incidence within Italy.