Back ground: The third largest cause of death around the globe is stroke.  In the United States the largest cause of disability is also stroke. For stroke and coronary heart disease, independent main risk factor is diabetes mellitus.  

Objective: To determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in acute ischemic stroke patients at tertiary care hospital.

Material and methods: This cross-sectional study done in General Medicine Department at alnafees medical college, Islamabad, Pakistan. For a period of one year this study was carried out from June 2018 to June 2019. In our study, totally 150 acute ischemic stroke patients were included to determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in acute ischemic stroke patients. SPPS version 19 was used to analyze our data. From both the indoor and emergency departments, all patients fulfilling inclusion and exclusion criteria for acute ischemic stroke were carefully chosen. Confirmation of acute ischemic stroke was confirmed by CT scan of brain and then HbA1c levels was done for all the confirm patients.  

Results: In our study, totally 150 patients were included. There were more male 53.33% (n=80) in our study as compared to female 46.66% (n=70). On the basis of age they were divided into three groups in our study. Group A (30-45 years) have 25 (16.66%) acute ischemic patients, Group B (46-60 years) have 60(40%) acute ischemic patients while Group C (61-75 years) have 65(43.33%) acute ischemic patients. Mean age was observed as 61±9 years. The overall prevalence of diabetes mellitus in acute ischemic stroke was 24% (n=36). In 76% (n=114) of the patient, diabetes mellitus was not observed.

Conclusion: High prevalence of diabetes mellitus was observed amongst acute ischemic stroke patients. In order to reduce long-term morbidity and mortality, it is advised to diagnose all the acute ischemic stroke patients for diabetes mellitus. In order to know the exact prevalence of the problem, every health care setup must have surveillance record.   

Keywords: Prevalence; diabetes mellitus; acute ischemic stroke; surveillance