Time trends in stroke severity in the years 2005 to 2020: results from the Austrian Stroke Unit Registry

• Published in: Journal of neurology 2022-08, Vol.269 (8), p.4396-4403
• Main Authors: Bernegger, Alexandra, Mikšová, Dominika, Posekany, Alexandra, Krebs, Stefan, Ferrari, Julia, Greisenegger, Stefan, Gattringer, Thomas, Lang, Wilfried, Kiechl, Stefan, Sykora, Marek
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aging; Diabetes mellitus; Fibrillation; Generalized linear models; Geriatrics; Hypercholesterolemia; Ischemia; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Neurology; Neuroradiology; Neurosciences; Original Communication; Patients; Risk factors; Stroke; Trends
• ISSN: 0340-5354; 1432-1459
• DOI: 10.1007/s00415-022-11079-x

Background and purpose With aging population, there is an increase of atrial fibrillation (AF) and other vascular risk factors. We investigated trends in stroke severity at hospital admission with respect to AF and other risk factors in a prospective national stroke registry from 2005 to 2020. Methods Data from the prospective Austrian Stroke Unit Registry were used to study demographic and clinical factors associated with the change in admission stroke severity over years. Time trends in admission stroke severity of patients with pre-stroke modified Rankin Score ≤ 3 were investigated with respect to clinical variables and predefined age groups 18–54, 55–64, 65–74, 75–84 and ≥ 85 years. Time trends were studied using robust generalized linear models assuming normal distribution with a log link. Stroke severity on admission was assessed according to the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale Score (NIHSS). Results In total, 140,312 patients with acute ischemic stroke were included in the analysis. Within the study period, mean patients’ age increased from 70 to 72 years ( p