Occupational distribution of acute stroke patients at a tertiary care center in Iran as a descriptive cross-sectional study

Abstract

Abstract Background Acute stroke remains a major public health concern, yet limited data exist on its distribution across occupational groups. This study aimed to investigate the occupational profiles of patients with acute stroke at a tertiary care center in Iran. Methods This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted from January to July 2020 in the emergency department of Imam Reza Hospital, Tabriz, Iran. Using census sampling, all confirmed stroke patients were enrolled. Demographic information, including age, sex, and smoking status, comorbidities, including hypertension (HTN), diabetes mellitus (DM), and hyperlipidemia (HLP), as well as occupational profiles, were collected and occupations were classified using the ISCO-08 system. Results A total of 301 stroke patients were enrolled (mean age: 66.93 ± 15.41 years; 49.2% male). HTN was the most common comorbidity (68.4%), followed by DM (58.8%), and HLP (47.8%). The majority of patients (53.2%) were non-employed, with housewives comprising the largest subgroup (46.8%). Among the remaining actively employed patients (46.8%), the most frequently represented occupational groups based on ISCO-08 classification were group 4 (clerical support workers, 10.6%), group 7 (craft and related trades workers, 8.6%), and group 6 (skilled agricultural, forestry, and fishery workers, 8.0%). Conclusion Most patients with acute stroke in this study were non-employed, with housewives comprising the largest subgroup, followed among employed patients by clerical support workers. These findings describe the occupational and employment status composition of stroke admissions to a single center and do not indicate occupation-related risk. Future studies with appropriate control groups and standardized exposure measures are needed to determine whether any association exists between occupational status and stroke.