In France, the prevalence of stroke and the level of disability of stroke survivors are little known. The aim of this study was to evaluate functional limitations in adults at home and in institutions, with and without self-reported stroke.

A survey named “the Disability Health Survey” was carried out in people's homes (DHH) and in institutions (DHI). Medical history and functional level (activities-of-daily-living [ADL] and instrumented-activities-of-daily-living [IADL]) were collected through interviews. The modified Rankin Score (mRS) and the level of dependence and disability were compared between participants with and without stroke.

Thirty-three thousand eight hundred and ninety-six subjects responded. The overall prevalence of stroke was 1.6% (CI95% [1.4%-1.7%]). The mRS was over 2 for 34.4% of participants with stroke (28.7% of participants at home and 87.8% of participants in institutions) versus respectively 3.9, 3.1 and 71.6% without stroke. Difficulty washing was the most frequently reported ADL for those with stroke (30.6% versus 3% for those without stroke). Difficulty with ADL and IADL increased with age but the relative risk was higher below the age of 60 (17 to 25) than over 85 years (1.5 to 2.2), depending on the ADL. In the overall population, 22.6% of those confined to bed or chair reported a history of stroke.

These results thus demonstrate a high national prevalence of stroke. Older people are highly dependent, irrespective of stroke history and the relative risk of dependence in young subjects with a history of stroke is high compared with those without.