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Background Stroke survivors living in care homes require high levels of support with everyday living. The aims of this study were to describe the survival, health status and care received by stroke survivors living in care homes at 1-year post-stroke, compared with those in their own homes. Methods A total of 3,548 stroke survivors with a first ever stroke between 1998 and 2017 in the South London Stroke Register were identified for survival analysis. A total of 2,272 were included in the 1-year follow-up analysis. Cox regression and Kaplan–Meier plots were used to describe survival, stratified into four 5-year cohorts. Health status, medications and rehabilitation received at 1-year post-stroke were compared using descriptive statistics. Results Over the 20-year period, survival improved for stroke survivors discharged to their own home (P < 0.001) but not for those discharged to care homes (P = 0.75). Care home residents were highly disabled (median Barthel index: 6/20, interquartile range: 2–10). Rates of secondary stroke prevention medications at 1-year follow-up increased over time for care home residents, including antiplatelets from 12.3 to 38.1%, although still lower than for those in their own homes (56.3%). Speech and language problems were common in the care home population (40.0%), but only 16% had received speech and language therapy. Conclusions Rates of secondary stroke prevention prescribing increased over 20 years but remained lower in care home residents. The lower levels of rehabilitation received by stroke survivors in care homes, despite their higher levels of disability, suggest a gap in care and urgent need for restorative and/or preventative rehabilitation.

Background Initial orthostatic hypotension (OH) is a clinical syndrome of exaggerated transient orthostasis associated with higher risks of falls, frailty and syncope in older adults. Objective To provide a prevalence estimate of initial OH in adults aged 65 years or older. Methods Literature search of MEDLINE (from 1946), Embase (from 1947) and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials was performed until 6 December 2019, using the terms ‘initial orthostatic hypotension’, ‘postural hypotension’ and ‘older adults’. Articles were included if published in English and participants were 65 years or older. Random effects models were used for pooled analysis. Results Of 5,136 articles screened, 13 articles (10 cross-sectional; 3 longitudinal) reporting data of 5,465 individuals (54.5% female) from the general (n = 4,157), geriatric outpatient (n = 1,136), institutionalised (n = 55) and mixed (n = 117) population were included. Blood pressure was measured continuously and intermittently in 11 and 2 studies, respectively. Pooled prevalence of continuously measured initial OH was 29.0% (95% CI: 22.1–36.9%, I2 = 94.6%); 27.8% in the general population (95% CI: 17.9–40.5%, I2 = 96.1%), 35.2% in geriatric outpatients (95% CI: 24.2–48.1%, I2 = 95.3%), 10.0% in institutionalised individuals (95% CI: 2.4–33.1%, I2 = 0%) and 21.4% in the mixed population (95% CI: 7.0–49.6, I2 = 0%). Pooled prevalence of intermittently measured initial OH was 5.6% (95% CI: 1.5–18.9%, I2 = 81.1%); 1.0% in the general population (95% CI: 0.0–23.9%, I2 = 0%) and 7.7% in geriatric outpatients (95% CI: 1.8–27.0%, I2 = 86.7%). Conclusion The prevalence of initial OH is high in older adults, especially in geriatric outpatients. Proper assessment of initial OH requires continuous blood pressure measurements.