Affiliations 

  • 1 Neurology, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, The Netherlands merel.ekker@radboudumc.nl
  • 2 Department of Neurology, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
  • 3 Radboudumc, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
  • 4 Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
  • 5 North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, Stockton on Tees, UK
  • 6 Stroke Clinic, National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery Manuel Velasco Suarez, Mexico City, Mexico
  • 7 Neurology Department, Stroke Center, the Stroke Unit and the Neurovascular Laboratory of the Inselspital Hospital, Bern, Switzerland
  • 8 Neurology Department, Hospital Rafael Angel Calderon Guardia, San Jose, Costa Rica
  • 9 Neurology Department, Luzerner Kantonsspital, Luzern, Switzerland
  • 10 Neurology Department, ZorgSaam, Terneuzen, The Netherlands
  • 11 International School of Traditional Medicine, Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
  • 12 Department of Neurology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
  • 13 Department of Neurology, Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
  • 14 Bordeaux Population Health Research Centre, University of Bordeaux College of Health Sciences, Bordeaux, France
  • 15 School of Medicine, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
  • 16 Department of Neurology, Division of Neuroradiology, Department of Radiology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
  • 17 Department of Neurology, Istanbul University Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey
  • 18 Department of Neurology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
  • 19 Centre for Neurovascular Diseases, Department of Neurology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
  • 20 Department of Stroke Medicine, Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals, Chertsey, UK
  • 21 Stroke Center, Department of Neurology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA
  • 22 SARAH Hospital of Rehabilitation, Brasilia, UK
  • 23 Department of Medical and Clinical Genetics, Institute of Biomedicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
  • 24 Department for Clinical Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, Department for Clinical Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
  • 25 Department of Health Care Administration and Management, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
  • 26 Department of Neurology, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seongdong-Gu, Korea (The Republic of)
  • 27 Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Kyushu University Faculty of Medicine Graduate School of Medical Sciences School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan
  • 28 Neurology Department, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
  • 29 Department of Neurology, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
  • 30 Neurology and Neurosurgery, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
  • 31 Neurology, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Kweishan, Taiwan
  • 32 Neurology Department, University of Lille, Lille, Hauts-de-France, France
  • 33 Department of Neurology and Neurorehabilitation, Cantonal Hospital Lucerne, Luzern, LU, Switzerland
  • 34 Department of Neurology, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
  • 35 Department of Neurology, Hospital de Egas Moniz, Lisboa, Portugal
  • 36 Department of Neurology, Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital, New Delhi, India
  • 37 Neurological Institute, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
  • 38 SARAH Hospital of Rehabilitation, Brasilia, Brazil
  • 39 Medicine, University of Ibadan College of Medicine, Ibadan, Nigeria
  • 40 Department of Neurology, Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, Mayville, South Africa
  • 41 Department of Neurology, Waikato Hospital, Hamilton, New Zealand
  • 42 Neurology, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • 43 Department of Neurology, Hospital Civil de Guadalajara Unidad Hospitalaria Fray Antonio Alcalde, Guadalajara, Mexico
  • 44 Neurology, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universitat Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
  • 45 Department of Neurology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • 46 Department of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 47 Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Tel Aviv University Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel
  • 48 Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
  • 49 Department of Neurology, Christchurch Hospital, Christchurch, UK
  • 50 Department of Neurology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
  • 51 Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Lombardia, Italy
  • 52 Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
BMJ Open, 2019 11 14;9(11):e031144.
PMID: 31727655 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-031144

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Worldwide, 2 million patients aged 18-50 years suffer a stroke each year, and this number is increasing. Knowledge about global distribution of risk factors and aetiologies, and information about prognosis and optimal secondary prevention in young stroke patients are limited. This limits evidence-based treatment and hampers the provision of appropriate information regarding the causes of stroke, risk factors and prognosis of young stroke patients.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The Global Outcome Assessment Life-long after stroke in young adults (GOAL) initiative aims to perform a global individual patient data meta-analysis with existing data from young stroke cohorts worldwide. All patients aged 18-50 years with ischaemic stroke or intracerebral haemorrhage will be included. Outcomes will be the distribution of stroke aetiology and (vascular) risk factors, functional outcome after stroke, risk of recurrent vascular events and death and finally the use of secondary prevention. Subgroup analyses will be made based on age, gender, aetiology, ethnicity and climate of residence.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval for the GOAL study has already been obtained from the Medical Review Ethics Committee region Arnhem-Nijmegen. Additionally and when necessary, approval will also be obtained from national or local institutional review boards in the participating centres. When needed, a standardised data transfer agreement will be provided for participating centres. We plan dissemination of our results in peer-reviewed international scientific journals and through conference presentations. We expect that the results of this unique study will lead to better understanding of worldwide differences in risk factors, causes and outcome of young stroke patients.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.