Burden of stroke in Indonesia

Stroke is the leading cause of death among Indonesians above five years of age, comprising 15·4% of all deaths, age-gender-standardised death rate 99/100000, and age-gender-standardised disability-adjusted life years lost 685/100000. Stroke prevalence is 0·0017% in rural Indonesia, 0·022% in urban Indonesia, 0·5% among urban Jakarta adults, and 0·8% overall. Frequent risk factors include hypertension, smoking and hypercholesterolemia. The mean age of stroke patients is 58·8 years. Subarachnoid haemorrhage is found in 1·4% of patients, intracerebral haemorrhage in 18·5%, and ischaemic stroke in 42·9%. Only city hospitals have neurology, neurosurgery and neuroimaging services. Indonesia has 40 stroke units. Commonly used medications for stroke are easily available. Hospital-based rehabilitative services are available in large hospitals. Traditional medicine is widely practiced. Efforts to combat stroke include education, more stroke units and rehabilitative services especially in the rural areas.