What is the Stroke Riskometer?

The Stroke Riskometer is a unique and easy-to-use tool for assessing your individual risk of a stroke. Your risk is calculated using information such as age, gender, ethnicity, lifestyle and other health factors that directly influence your likelihood of a stroke. The Riskometer was designed as a tool to help individuals and medical professionals reduce the risk and prevalence of stroke.

The Stroke Riskometer assesses your risk of having a stroke in the next five to ten years based on your answers to 20 questions. It is a wonderful tool to help you to assess and consistently monitor your risk of stroke.

Why you should use the Stroke Riskometer to assess your risk

Over 80% of strokes could be prevented if people were aware of their risk factors and how to control them. By assessing your individual risk, you can reduce your chances of facing the difficult consequences of stroke on your health and life.

What you should do if your risk seems high or if you are concerned

The information provided by the Stroke Riskometer app is not intended as medical advice and should not be used for diagnosis. Since each patient has unique personal needs and a different medical history, you should talk to your doctor about any concerns you have about your risk level. A doctor can assess information about your specific situation and help you make decisions about treatment and/or medication.

How often you should assess your risk of stroke

If you are at low risk (the same as anyone of your age and sex with no additional risk factors), it is recommended to assess your risk once a year in accordance with other medical evaluations, preferably working with your doctor so that the results are incorporated in your medical record. You should reassess your risk any time there are changes in your health condition or lifestyle (nutrition, physical activity, smoking habits, etc.).

It is important to remember that even if you are not currently at high risk for stroke, there is still a possibility of experiencing a stroke in your lifetime. To reduce risk and stay in the low-risk category, it is important to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

If you are at high risk, you should reassess your risk at least once every six months and any time there are changes in your health condition or lifestyle (nutrition, physical activity, smoking habits, etc.).

Information about the Riskometer

The Stroke Riskometer was developed by Professor Valery Feigin of AUT’s National Institute for Stroke and Applied Neuroscience (NISAN). Professor Feigin is a leading expert in clinical stroke research with credentials from the Auckland University of Technology, the World Stroke Organization, the World Federation of Neurology and the International Association of Neurology and Epidemiology. The Stroke Riskometer Pro includes internationally recognized instructions for managing risk factors.

How to get the Stroke Riskometer app

The Stroke Riskometer is available on both the App Store and Google Play. Click here for more details about the iOS version (free) and the currently available languages, and here for the Pro version and the currently available languages.

The calculator is not a substitute for consulting your family doctor.

It should be noted that stroke patients are at higher risk of experiencing an additional stroke, which requires treatment to be adapted for the (secondary) prevention of a recurrent stroke. The risk of a recurrent stroke is especially high in the days immediately following the first stroke, while the patient is still hospitalized.

People who have had a stroke are also liable to develop cardiac complications, including arrhythmias and heart attacks — especially at the stage immediately after the stroke, while still hospitalized. Note that heart attacks and strokes have shared risk factors, notably the development of atherosclerosis, which leads to blood clots. For this reason, stroke patients usually have their heart activity monitored.

After an ischemic stroke, there is a risk of developing a cerebral hemorrhage in the area of the infarct even while still hospitalized. The risk is higher with infarcts that involve the cerebral cortex and among stroke patients who were treated with tPA to dissolve blood clots in the vessels that supply the brain. To detect this risk, the tPA is administered with imaging, and the imaging is then repeated the day after treatment.