Which of Cigarette Smoking and Arterial Hypertension Is the Most Important Risk Factor for Stroke?
Arterial hypertension is generally considered the most important risk factor for stroke. In 1986, Bonita et al. [1986] reported a well-designed and well-conducted population-based case-control study on 132 cases of stroke identified as part of a population-based register compared with 1,586 controls from a survey of cardiovascular risk factors conducted in the same population. In that population, those patients being treated for hypertension at the time of the stroke were compared with those not currently under treatment. For both sexes, the odds ratio was 4.1 (95% confidence interval 2.8-5.7) for those who were currently treated for hypertension, the association being stronger in men (odds ratio 5.0, 95%i confidence interval 3.2-7.8) than in women (odds ratio 3.0, 95% confidence interval 1.7-5.3). The corresponding odds ratio for smokers compared with nonsmokers was 2.9 (95% confidence interval 2.0-4.1). Thus, hypertension is associated with an apparently much higher risk of stroke th
