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Objective: To investigate the relationship between the volume of inpatient rehabilitation therapy and mortality among patients with acute ischemic stroke, as well as to assess whether the association varies with respect to stroke severity., Design: A retrospective study with a cohort of consecutive patients who had acute ischemic stroke between January 1, 2008, and June 30, 2009., Setting: Referral medical center., Participants: Adults with acute ischemic stroke (N=1277) who were admitted to a tertiary hospital., Interventions: Not applicable., Main Outcome Measure: Stroke-related mortality., Results: During the median follow-up period of 12.3 months (ranging from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2009), 163 deaths occurred. Greater volume of rehabilitation therapy was associated with a reduced risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality (P for trend <.001 for both). Compared with the first tertile, the third tertile of rehabilitation volume was associated with a 55% lower risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR]=.45; 95% confidence interval [CI], .30-.65) and a 50% lower risk of cardiovascular mortality (HR=.50; 95% CI, .31-.82). The association did not vary with respect to stroke severity (P for interaction = .45 and .73 for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, respectively)., Conclusions: The volume of inpatient rehabilitation therapy and mortality were significantly inversely related in the patients with ischemic stroke. Thus, further programs aimed at promoting greater use of rehabilitation services are warranted., (Copyright © 2014 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Aim: Predictors of short- and long-term all-cause mortality of older stroke patients were explored., Methods: Cox regression models were used to estimate the relative risk and 95% confidence intervals (CI) in the database entries of 636 older stroke patients aged 70 years and over., Results: National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score on admission, age and coronary heart disease were significantly associated with 28-day death. The hazard ratios for the predictors of long-term mortality were as follows: NIHSS score, 1.1 (95% CI: 1.07-1.1); serum glucose level, 1.08 (95% CI: 1.01-1.2); serum triglyceride level, 0.6 (95% CI: 0.4-0.8); age, 1.04 (95% CI: 1.01-1.08); and coronary heart disease, 2.7 (95% CI: 1.4-5.4)., Conclusions: NIHSS score on admission, age and coronary heart disease are independent predictors of short- and long-term mortality. Higher glucose and lower triglyceride level are significantly associated with the long-term mortality., (© 2013 The Authors. Australasian Journal on Ageing © 2013 ACOTA.)

Purpose: To identify the prognostic roles of initial glucose level in the emergency department among patients with acute ischemic stroke, and to evaluate whether or not the impact varied with diabetes., Methods: A total of 774 first-ever ischemic stroke patients admitted to the emergency department of a tertiary hospital in Taiwan. Participants were stratified into tertiles by initial glucose level in the emergency department. The Barthel Index (BI) and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) were used to assess functional outcome 3 months after the ischemic stroke., Results: Initial glucose level was significantly associated with functional outcome 3 months after ischemic stroke. Compared with the 1st tertile, adjusted odds ratios for 2nd and 3rd tertiles of initial glucose level were 1.84 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15-2.95) and 4.57 (95% CI, 2.87-7.29), for BI of less than 60, 2.07 (95% CI, 1.28-3.36) and 4.45 (95% CI, 2.76-7.18) for mRS score of >2. The association was apparent among the nondiabetic stroke patients compared with diabetic patients., Conclusions: A positive association was found between initial glucose level and poor functional outcome at 3 months in patients with acute ischemic stroke, particularly among nondiabetic patients.