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Survival over 12 years following acute stroke: initial treatment in a stroke unit vs general medical wards
Author(s) -
Stavem K.,
Rønning O. M.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
acta neurologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.967
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1600-0404
pISSN - 0001-6314
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0404.2011.01485.x
Subject(s) - medicine , stroke (engine) , rehabilitation , acute stroke , log rank test , pediatrics , survival analysis , physical therapy , emergency medicine , mechanical engineering , tissue plasminogen activator , engineering
Stavem K, Rønning OM. Survival over 12 years following acute stroke: initial treatment in a stroke unit vs general medical wards.
Acta Neurol Scand: 2011: 124: 429–433.
© 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Background – Few studies have assessed the influence of the organization of stroke care on long‐term survival. Aims of the study – To compare survival over 12 years after stroke between subjects treated in an acute stroke unit (SU) and those treated in general medical wards (GMW). Methods – In total, 550 subjects ≥ 60 years of age with acute stroke were prospectively allocated according to date of birth (day of the month) to treatment in a SU with relatively short length of stay or GMWs. We assessed survival through a link to the register of Statistics Norway. Groups were compared using Kaplan–Meier analysis on an intention‐to‐treat basis. Results – Of the 550 eligible subjects, 271 were allocated to a SU and 279 to GMWs. There still was no difference in mortality over 12 years between the groups ( P = 0.15, log‐rank test) Conclusions – An acute SU offering early treatment and rehabilitation did not offer better long‐term mortality after stroke in patients ≥60 years old than initial treatment in GMWs.