Functioning of long‐term survivors of first‐ever intracerebral hemorrhage

Objectives There are few data on long‐term functional outcome after intracerebral hemorrhage ( ICH ). We aimed to assess functional dependency and cognitive impairment in long‐term survivors of first‐ever intracerebral hemorrhage. Materials and methods Between A ugust and N ovember 2011, we contacted all survivors from a cohort of 134 consecutive patients hospitalized with a first‐ever ICH in the period 2005–2009 in a well‐defined catchment area. We did an extensive face‐to‐face follow‐up including the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale ( NIHSS ), the modified R ankin Scale (m RS ), the Barthel Index ( BI ), and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment ( M o CA ). Results Fifty‐one patients (38%) were alive. Fifty agreed to take part in the follow‐up. The median follow‐up time was 3.8 years. Thirty‐four patients (68%) were independent (m RS 0–2) and 16 (32%) dependent (m RS 3–5). Factors independently associated with dependency were leukoaraiosis score ( OR 2.3 per increasing point, P  = 0.003) and female sex ( OR 5.1, P  = 0.038). Twenty‐seven patients (61%) had cognitive impairment ( M o CA  ≤ 23). Factors independently associated with cognitive impairment were age ( OR 2.4 per 10 years, P  = 0.010) and lobar ICH location ( OR 14.1, P  = 0.016). Conclusions A large proportion of long‐term survivors of ICH in S outhern N orway live functionally independent lives in their private homes. Dependency is linked to leukoaraiosis and female sex. Cognitive impairment is common and linked to lobar location of ICH .