Acute ischemic stroke; correlation between higher total cholesterol level and high barthel index score in patients

ABSTRACT

Among all deaths, 40-50% are due to vascular events and out of these 10% are due to stroke. More than 66% of the global stroke occurrence is in developing countries, where the average age of patients with stroke is 15 years less than in developed countries. Objectives: To determine the correlation between higher total cholesterol level and high Barthel Index score[estimate of functional daily independent activity level] in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Design: Cross sectional study. Period May 2013 to Apr 2014. Setting: Medical Units of DHQ and Allied Hospital, Faisalabad. Methodology: Sample size of 200 patients was collected and patients were included through Consecutive [non-probability] sampling technique. All patients underwent CT scan Brain from the radiology department of the hospital to determine the respective changes [hypo dense area] of the ischemic stroke. Fasting serum cholesterol was measured in all patients after an overnight fast of 12 hours. Then patients were assessed by using Barthel Index score [BI]. The data was analyzed by using SPSS version 16.0. Spearman Rank correlation coefficient was calculated to BI score in patients with ischemic stroke. Results: The mean age of the patients was noted as 61.76+/-11.55 years. In this study 55.50% were males and 44.50% patients were females. The mean total cholesterol value of patients was noted as 251.58+/-71.15 mg/dl. Out of 200 patients, 111[55.5%] patients had high cholesterol [>200mg/dl] whereas 89[44.5%] patient had low cholesterol of[<200mg/dl].In statical analysis the results showed that the mean value of total Barthel index score was 57.50+/-19.52. The study results described that 51.50% patients had high Barthel index score [>53] whereas 48.50% patients had low Barthel index score [<53]. Spearman correlation coefficient was calculated between high TC and high BI score as r= 0.641. This value was statistically significant i.e. p-value=0.000*. Conclusions: With the help of this study, we found a significant positive relationship between high TC and high BI score inpatients presented with ischemic stroke. Now we can better prognosticate the functional outcome of ischemic stroke in our patients.