Abstract
Background: Cerebrovascular stroke, especially ischemic stroke, remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The incidence of stroke and its risk factors has been studied extensively while the role of hypoxia resulting from high altitude and its relation to stroke has not been well established. This study aims to assess the risk factors associated with stroke in the Taif city, Saudi Arabia. Methodology: A retrospective study was carried out involving data collected from hospital records using a pre-tested questionnaire. Records of 162 patients who attended Al-Hada Military Hospital during the period from 2014 to 2019 with a stroke and who satisfied the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in the study. The data regarding the sociodemographic details, clinical and laboratory findings, symptoms related to stroke at the time of admission, and discharge or recovery were recorded and tabulated. Statistical analysis was done using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 23 considering a significance value <0.05 to be statistically significant. Results: Among the total, 61.1% of the patients were males and 82.7% were aged more than 55 years. Hypertension and diabetes mellitus were present in 29.63% and 34.56% of the patients, respectively. Furthermore, 46% of the total subjects had a body mass index of more than 25 kg/m2. Systolic blood pressure > 140 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure > 90 mmHg and increased Hemoglobin A1C level were significantly found associated with a higher incidence of stroke. Most of the symptoms decreased after the events of stroke and the time of discharge. Conclusion: The study found that the common risk factors failed to show a significant association with the incidence of stroke. Hypoxia is more common in people living at high altitude and this may be a risk factor for ischemic stroke in the people of Taif city. There is a need for a larger analytical study to conclude the single linear relationship of high altitude and incidence of stroke.

Key words: Stroke, hypobaric, hypertension, Taif, high altitude.