Objectives To investigate the 10-year stroke risk and the status of primary preventions of stroke in hypertensive patients visiting the outpatient departments of cardiology of a tertiary hospital in China.

Methods The patients with hypertension and without stroke, who visited the outpatient departments of cardiology of West China Hospital, were invited to accept the investigations. From December 2011 to June 2012, 2740 hypertensive patients were enrolled sequentially. This study was supported by Ministry of health of the people’s Republic of China. All participants provided written informed consent. The 10-year stroke probability was estimated by the Framingham Stroke Risk Score (FSRS).The 10-year stroke probability ≥ 10.0% was defined as high risk, ≥ 6.0% and < 10.0% as moderate risk, < 6.0% as low risk.

Results For all the patients, the average 10-year stroke risk was 16.8%, and the proportion of patients at moderate and high risk of stroke was 19.8% and 65.4%, respectively. The control of stroke risk factors was poor. Meanwhile, the proportion of using some medications for primary prevention of stroke, such as aspirin and statins, was only about 50.0% in patients at moderate and high risk of stroke.

Conclusions This survey demonstrated the average 10-year stroke risk was significantly high in hypertensive patients visiting the outpatient departments of cardiology of tertiary hospitals, and the proportion of patients at moderate and high risk of stroke was significantly large. Meanwhile, the status of primary preventions of stroke was frustrating. The resulting risk of stroke is substantial in these patients. So, we suggest that estimating stroke risk should be as a routine medical procedure in these patients, and this might draw more attention to these patients` stroke risk, further giving more aggressive interventions the patients at moderate and high risk of stroke.