Improving Stroke Care in Malaysia: evaluation of its burden, prevention and quality of care

Abstract

There has been a rapid escalation in the burden of stroke, in particular across low- and middle-income countries. Malaysia, being an upper-middle income country is of no exception to this crisis. Stroke has consistently been the third leading cause of deaths in the country where relative increase in the proportion of its deaths almost doubled for the past decade. One of the very first steps to reduce the burden of stroke in Malaysia is therefore, to have a better understanding in the delivery of local stroke care. The focuses of this thesis were placed on estimating and understanding the extent of the burden of stroke, uptake of preventive strategies that have been implemented as well as the quality of stroke care delivery in the country.