One-year mortality after acute stroke: a prospective cohort study from a comprehensive stroke care centre, Kerala, India

Objectives The primary objective was to report the 1-year all-cause mortality among patients with stroke. The secondary objectives were (1) to report the mortality stratified by type of stroke and sex and (2) to report predictors of 1-year mortality among patients with stroke. Design A prospective cohort study. Setting Institutional–stroke care unit of a tertiary care hospital Participants Patients who were treated in the study institution during 2016–2020 for acute stroke and were followed up for a period of 1 year after stroke in the same institution. Main outcome measures The main outcome measures were the mortality proportion of any stroke and first ever stroke cohorts at select time points, including in-hospital stay, along with 2 weeks, 2 months, 6 months and 1 year after index stroke. The secondary outcomes were (1) mortality proportions stratified by sex and type of stroke and (2) predictors of 1-year mortality for any stroke and first ever stroke. Results We recruited a total of 1336 patients. The mean age of participants was 61.6 years (13.5 years). The mortality figures for 2 weeks, 2 months, 6 months and 12 months after discharge were 79 (5.9%), 88 (6.7%), 101 (7.6%) and 114 (8.5%), respectively, in the full cohort. The in-hospital mortality was 45 (3.4%). The adjusted analysis revealed 3 predictors for 1-year mortality after first ever stroke—age, pre-treatment National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score and Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score at baseline. The same for the full cohort had only two predictors—age and pre-treatment NIHSS score. Conclusion Mortality of stroke at 1-year follow-up in the study population is low in comparison to several studies published earlier. The predictors of 1-year mortality after stroke included age, NIHSS score at baseline and mRS score at baseline.