Predictors of Mortality Following Acute Stroke: A Cohort Study with 12 Years of Follow-Up

In this study, we investigated predictors for long-term all-cause mortality in a cohort of patients hospitalized for acute stroke. We prospectively followed 550 patients aged ≥60 years who were consecutively admitted within 24 hours of sustaining acute stroke. The patients were followed for 12 years or until death, whichever came first. Multivariate Cox regression models were used to analyze predictors of all-cause mortality, with the following independent variables: age, sex, living alone, previous stroke, ischemic heart disease, atrial fibrillation, hypertension, diabetes, cancer, current smoker, hemorrhagic stroke, treatment in an acute stroke unit, and stroke severity (measured with the Scandinavian Stroke Scale). The 12-year mortality rate was 86.5%. In a multivariate model, all-cause mortality was associated with the following variables: age (hazard ratio, 1.08; 95% confidence interval, 1.07-1.10), male sex (1.69, 1.40-2.05), previous stroke (1.34, 1.08-1.65), ischemic heart disease (1.30, 1.02-1.64), diabetes (1.74, 1.36-2.23), hemorrhagic stroke (1.58, 1.20-2.08), and stroke severity (1.03, 1.03-1.04); Age, male sex, stroke severity, ischemic heart disease, diabetes, and hemorrhagic stroke were all independently associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality over the 12-year period after stroke.