Dr. Mark Bayley performs a strength assessment on Toronto Rehab patient Wing-Yiu Tang. (Photo: UHN)
In the next two decades, the number of Canadians living with long-term disability from stroke will increase by up to 80 per cent due to the aging population and population growth, according to a study published in the medical journal
Stroke.
These findings provide an updated estimate of the long-term impacts stroke will have in Canada.
"The expected increase is due to the aging population and improved early stroke care resulting in more stroke survivors. This certainly still represents an underestimate as we did not include all people with mild strokes, but only those with symptoms for more than six months," says Dr. Mark Bayley, Medical Director, Brain and Spinal Cord Rehab Program, Toronto Rehab and co-author of the study.
"As a result, there are more people living with the effects of stroke and this study quantifies the size of the impact. The results help us assess what the needs for rehab and community support will be for stroke survivors living with disability."
Read media release
here.
