Grant: IPPH Travel Awards - CPHA Annual Conference

Introduction: Evaluating stroke symptoms is crucial for stroke prevention owing to the high risk of clinically undiagnosed stroke among older adults in Canada. This study assessed the prevalence and correlates of stroke symptoms in a stroke- and transient ischemic attack (TIA)-free population. Methods: Based on the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (2012-2014), multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed using a backward elimination approach. Stroke symptoms were assessed by the Questionnaire for Verifying Stroke-Free Status. Results: The study included 25,832 (16.2% immigrants, 1% refugees, 4.7% nonwhite, 50.9% female, mean age 62.37) participants who reported no stroke or TIA. The prevalence of stroke symptoms was 3.2% for one-sided sudden painless weakness, 4.7% for one-sided sudden numbness, 4.8% for sudden painless loss of vision in one or both eyes, 2.8% for sudden hemifield visual loss, 1.9% for sudden inability to understand speech, and 2.9% for sudden inability of linguistic expression. The prevalence of more than 1 symptoms was 13.3%. The adjusted odds (aOR) of stroke symptoms for non-refugee immigrants were 11% lower than the native-born Canadians (aOR=0.89, 95%CI: 0.80-0.99). Symptoms were more prevalent among those with lower income (aORs 1.29 to 2.22), lower education (aOR=1.23), smoking (aORs=1.10), multi-morbidities (aORs 1.79-4.08), chronic pain (aOR=1.35), high risk in waist-to-hip ratio (aOR=1.13), BMI above 25 (aOR 2.51 to 2.62), higher nutrition risk (aOR=1.29), daily intake of more than 5 fat sources (aOR=1.26), no intakes of calcium sources (aOR=1.14). Conclusion and implication for policy: Older adults with disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, unhealthy behaviours and dietary intakes are at elevated risk of stroke symptoms that may have had clinically undetected. Aggressive stroke prophylaxis could be targeted to these identified high-risk populations to improve health equity for the aging population.