Assessment was based on interviews with the persons and a knowledgeable informant. We required the presence of memory impairment as well as deficits in other cognitive abilities according to the ICD-10 classification
Atrial fibrillation (AF)
A documented history of paroxysmal AF, alternatively if AF was present at hospital admission
Heart failure and myocardial infarction
Documentation of these conditions in medical records
Hypertension
When the presence of hypertension was documented in medical records, alternatively if ≥2 readings of systolic blood pressure were ≥160 mm Hg, or diastolic blood pressure was ≥95 mm Hg at any time before the onset of stroke
Pre-stroke transient ischemic attack (TIA)
Documentation of TIA in medical records or from the person’s own report
Diabetes mellitus
If a person gave a history of diabetes mellitus that was confirmed by their medical records or was taking insulin or an oral hypoglycemic agent
Epilepsy
Epilepsy was diagnosed from the hospital’s patient register (diagnosis code G40) and confirmed from the patient records. Epilepsy could be present both before as well as at any time after the stroke
