Influence of prior ischemic events on the nutritional status of patients hospitalized for stroke

Background and aims: a poor nutritional status may worsen the prognosis of stroke. We assessed which factors were associated with a worse nutritional status in patients with stroke at the time of hospitalization. Methods: a cross-sectional study in patients with stroke needing enteral nutritional support, from January 2014 to September 2016. Nutritional status was evaluated by the Mini-Nutritional Assessment tool, and the Subjective Global Assessment. We performed a multivariate regression analysis including demographic, baseline disability (modified Rankin scale), and clinical and anthropometric variables, and we stratified the sample based on median age. Results: we included 226 patients, 58.3 % male, with a median age of 77 (66.7-83) years. Forty-four percent were at risk of malnutrition, and 24 % were malnourished. The factors that were associated with a worse nutritional status were age (odds ratio (OR): 1.03; 95 % CI: 1.01-1.08) and modified Rankin scale score (OR: 1.96; 95 % CI: 1.32-2.67). In the stratified analysis, associated factors were, in the subgroup of patients older than 77 years, the baseline degree of disability (OR: 1.88; 95 % CI: 1.26-2.80), whereas in the subgroup of patients younger than 77 years, it was a prior history of ischemic events (OR: 2.86; 95 % CI: 1.01-8.16). Conclusion: in patients hospitalized due to stroke, older age and worse functional status were associated with a worse nutritional status at the time of hospitalization. In elderly patients, the main factor was prior functional status, while in younger patients it was a prior history of ischemic events.